Increased Pesticide Use for GM Crops

The Organic Center has released a report entitled, “The Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops on Pesticide Use: The First Thirteen Years,” that argues genetically engineered or modified (GM) crops “have been responsible for an increase of 383 million pounds of herbicide use in the U.S. over the first 13 years of commercial use of biotech crops [.]”

The report looks at GM corn, soybean, and cotton and the amount of pesticide use these crops required. The data comes predominantly from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Jacqui Fatka, writing for Feedstuffs online, notes that the report argues that GM crops are “pushing pesticide use upward at a ‘rapidly accelerating pace.”’

GE crops required 26 percent more pounds of pesticides per acre in 2008 than more “conventional varieties,” and the report argues this trend will continue because of ‘“rapid spread glyphosate-resistant weeds.”’ The increase use of pesticides is compounded by the fact that, according to USDA data, “U.S. farmers have embraced biotech varieties of soybeans, cotton and corn at the rate of 91%, 88% and 85%, respectively.”

The report is not without its detractors. Four out of five US farmers are turning to GM crops because they save fuel, can limit the need to use some pesticides, requires less spraying than conventional crops to fight off pests, lower production costs, and higher yields. Sharon Bomer Lauritsen, executive vice president of food and agriculture for Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), one of the detractors, believe farmers are turning to GMs because of these benefits, and ultimately because GM crops allow farmers to use practices “that better protect the land.”

The argument over the use of GM’s and conventional crops has been ongoing for some time, is not limited to the use of pesticides, and promises not to let up any time soon. With a growing world population less able to feed itself, world leaders are turning to agriculture to provide solutions on how to feed the global populous and prevent famines. Leaders from both the United Nations and the United States have argued for the need to improve self-sufficiency in food production in developing countries, and one way to do this is to increase crop yields, which makes GM crops appealing. However, detractors of GM use would like to see sustainable agriculture become more ingrained in developing countries, along with making food production and consumption a more local endeavor. They also argue the long-term impacts of GM’s are not well known.

With a lot of talk in the world community about creating a new “Green Revolution,” one has to wonder what role will GM’s play in such a revolution and what would the father of the first Green Revolution, the late Dr. Norman Borlaug, suggest?

To read the Feedstuffs online article click here.

Posted: 11/18/09