GM crops causing a rise in pesticide use in US
chatnoir
headline:
GM crops causing a rise in pesticide use in US
Ecologist
17th November, 2009
Early falls in pesticide use on GM crops in the United States have
been replaced by rapid increases according to study
Pesticide-use in the US has increased significantly since the
introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops, according to a new
report.
GM crop varieties have quickly come to dominate production of maize,
soybean and cotton in the US with more than 1.3 billion acres planted
between 1996-2008.
Research from an alliance of environmental groups has found that the
switch to GM crops has led to an extra 318 million pounds of
pesticides being used by farmers.
The report, 'Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops on Pesticide Use:
The First Thirteen Years' was commissioned by The Organic Center and
the Centre for Food Safety.
Herbicide-use rising
It found that the adoption of GM BT corn and cotton had led to a
reduction in insecticide use, compared to what is likely to have been
applied to conventional crops, of 64 million pounds between 1996-2008.
But the uptake of other GM crops resistant to herbicides in the same
period led to an increase in herbicide use of 382 million pounds. That
left an overall figure of 318 pounds of additional pesticides being
used.
The rate of increase in pesticide use is rising too. After falling in
the early years (1996-1998) by between 1 and 2 per cent, it increased
by 20 per cent in 2007 and 27 per cent in 2008. The report puts this
down to the emergence of weeds resistant to the pesticides. ... (cont)