GM Crops In Crisis: Roundup-Resistant ‘Superweeds’

GM Crops In Crisis: Roundup-Resistant 'Superweeds'from foodpolitics.com: I wrote about this problem in Safe Food: The Politics of Food Safety. I added this update to the 2010 edition: “Late in 2004, weeds resistant to Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup began appearing in GM plantings in Georgia and soon spread to other Southern states. By 2009, more than one hundred thousand acres in Georgia were infested with Roundup-resistant pigweed. Planters were advised to apply multiple herbicides, thereby defeating the point of Roundup: to reduce chemical applications.” Today, the idea that planting of GM crops is “widespread” is an understatement. Many of the worst weeds, some of which grow more than six feet and can sharply reduce crop yields, have become resistant to the popular glyphosate-based weed-killer Roundup, as well as other common herbicides. Some runaway weeds in the southern U.S. are said to be big enough to stop combines dead in their tracks. How is the chemical industry responding to this threat? Zap it harder! The industry is pressing the U.S. and Canadian governments to approve GM corn engineered to resist 2,4-D…the principle ingredient in agent orange.

Related: Argentina Mother Sticks it to Monsanto*
GM Foods: The Shocking Cause of Birth defects*
Birth Defects Allegedly Linked to Monsanto Chemicals*
Monsanto’s Roundup Continuously Shown to Cause Birth Defects*
NZ bans fertility-damaging soy-based baby formula*

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