Farmers Were Promised Better Returns If They Grew Genetically Modified Crops

In 1996 Monsanto introduced commercially a transgenic cotton with in-seed insect-protection against the cotton bollworm. In 1997 Monsanto introduced commercially a genetically engineered corn which had in-built protection from the European corn borer. Also, that year, a new genetically modified cotton variety which had both bollworm resistance and glyphosate tolerant properties.

Farmers were promised higher yields and lower costs and thus more profit if they grew these transgenic plants. Have the biotech companies been able to deliver on these promises.

India.

According to Andrew Malone writing in the Daily Mail, it is correct what Prince Charles said about thousands of farmers in the Maharashtra state, India, committing suicide after running up large debts due to the crop failure of genetically modified pest proof varieties of Bt cotton. The farmers were promised that the genetically modified Bt cotton would not need pesticides, would be free of disease and insect pests. Instead their cotton was devastated by the parasite pink bollworm. This was because the cotton is resistant to green bollworm but not pink bollworm.

Though the yields were lower some forty percent of farmers did manage to make a small profit, as compared to the sixty percent of farmers who made a loss, from growing the cotton. But because the quality of the cotton is poor, the fibres are shorter, farmers are paid less per kilo. So farmers who grow cotton have lower yields and get reduced returns on the cotton they do produce. Why would any farmer aspire to grow genetically engineered cotton.

To make matters worse the seeds sold to the farmers are "terminator" seeds. This means that the cotton crop only produce infertile seeds. So even if the farmer does manage to gain even a low yield of cotton he can't use these seeds to plant next years crop but has to buy in fresh seeds every year and these genetically modified seeds are very costly.

South Africa.

Farmers in three provinces -- North West, Free State and Mpumalanga, in South Africa -- have had up to eighty percent crop failure with three varieties of genetically engineered corn. Monsanto blamed the crop failures on an error in the laboratory, made during the seed fabrication process. Opponents of genetically modified foodstuffs, however, say that the science behind genetic engineering is nonscientific.

Super-weeds.

Another disadvantage of growing genetically modified crops that are made to be tolerant of glyphosate is that over time when crops are sprayed with the herbicide, the weeds also become resistant to the weed killer. According to The International Survey of Herbicide Resistant Weeds there are now nine weed species, in different areas within the United States, that are resistant to the glyphosate weed killer.

When you consider that glyphosate is one of the most damaging and most popular of all herbicides then once a weed species becomes tolerant to it, it may be difficult to find a herbicide that will destroy the weeds but leave the food crop standing.

When farmers are finding their land infested with these super-weeds they are been advised to increase the amount of glyphosate they normally use on the food crop and if this does not solve the problem they are advised to add a selection of different weed killers. So farmers end up by spraying the food crops with many diverse types of herbicides including considerable amounts of glyphosate. Using more weed killers means more expense and reduced profits.

Georgia, United States.

The state of Georgia is being invaded, not by Triffids, but by pigweed (Palmer Amaranth). Over one-hundred thousand acres of farmland in Georgia is acutely infested with this glyphosate tolerant superweed says weed specialist Stanley Culpepper from the University of Georgia.

Pigweed is a fast-growing, drought-resistant, incredibly prolific weed that smothers the cotton plants starving them of sunlight, nutrients and water. The infestation has got so bad that some farmers are weeding their Bt cotton crops by hand. Other farmers are giving up and abandoning their arable land to the weeds.

Long Term Trends.

The evidence seems to suggest that growing genetically modified crops will eventually lead to reduced yields and higher costs, which means lower profits.

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