When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?
‘Superweed’ explosion threatens Monsanto heartlands
The gospel of high-tech genetically modified (GM) crops is not sounding quite so sweet in the land of the converted.
A new pest, the evil pigweed, is hitting headlines and chomping its way across Sun Belt states, threatening to transform cotton and soybean plots into weed battlefields.
In late 2004, “superweeds” that resisted Monsanto’s “Roundup” herbicide, popped up in GM crops in Georgia.
Monsanto, the US multinational biotech corporation, is the world’s leading producer of Roundup, as well as genetically engineered seeds. Company figures show that nine out of 10 US farmers produce Roundup Ready seeds for their soybean crops.
Roundup contains the active ingredient glyphosate, which is the most used herbicide in the USA.
Superweeds have since alarmingly appeared in other parts of Georgia, as well as South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri, according to media reports.
How has this happened?
Farmers over-relied on Monsanto’s revolutionary and controversial combination of a single “round up” herbicide and a high-tech seed…
Today, 100,000 acres in Georgia are severely infested with pigweed and 29 counties have now confirmed resistance to glyphosate, according to weed specialist Stanley Culpepper from the University of Georgia.
One year of pigweed means seven years of weeding.
Little TinyFarm deals with pigweed.
tip to Doug Powell’s Agnet
pigweed wiki