New Scientist reveals sustainabilty problem with GM
sugar beet
So desperate is Monsanto to promote genetic engineering as the
answer to
global resource problems it has declared in its most recent
annual report
that "current agricultural technology is not
sustainable", according to the
New York Times Sunday magazine (Oct 25 '98).
Promoting this theme earlier in the year Monsanto invited
numerous
journalists and other influential figures to view its GM sugar
beet trials
in the UK. Here weeds had been allowed to grow happily amongst
its
Roundup-Ready herbicide resistant sugar beet to an advanced
stage, before
both were sprayed with glyphosphate. As intended the glyphosphate
killed
everything except the beet.
The remaining hefty plant population rotted down to produce a
deep mulch,
which Monsanto were delighted to find was teaming with insect
life.
Eureka! - sustainable development! "It was obvious to see
that the weedy
plots were heaving with life," according to researcher Alan
Dewar at the
Institute for Arable Crops Research at Broom's Barn in Suffolk,
"But it
requires a bit of nerve because it looks a bit of a mess."
Prestigious journals such as the London Times and the UK's
Farmers Weekly
reported this dramatic breakthrough for the care of our
environment.
Not everyone was happy with this conclusion. There are plenty of
ways of
encouraging insect life on farms without having to grow
genetically modified
crops, which come complete with a range of unknown environmental
and health
risks
(see footnote 1).
.
Nonetheless (unless there was more to the situation than meets
the eye) it
did appear more insect life could operate under this system,
compared with a
more "conventional" approach to weed management such as
a chemical regime
using residual herbicides. This was Monsanto's chance to don its
environmental clothing and convince everyone that it has the
public interest
at heart when it randomly inserts genetic material from foreign
bacteria and
viruses into our flora and food.
For a company whose global financial strength has been built on
the back of
chemicals and drugs such as Agent Orange, PCBs, and genetically
engineered
BST, some people, however, smelt a rat in this approach. The rat
finally
popped out of its hole at the end of last month, in the form of
an article
in New Scientist (Oct 29 '98 http://www.newscientist.com).
In what will come as no surprise to any agricultural college
graduate,
research on the Monsanto GM sugar beet, now at last harvested,
showed that
leaving the weeds to grow to an advanced stage had had a
depressing effect
on yields compared to similar crops which were sprayed with
glyphosphate
soon after weed emergence.
The New Scientist article points out that for those farmers who
are
interested in maximising yields (which farmers growing GMOs won't
be?) early
applications of Roundup are required to prevent yield-sapping
weed
competition with the crop. The conclusion from this research for
those
farmers chasing yields is - "get the Roundup on quick".
Perhaps even spray
more than once with Roundup to catch late germinating weeds,
because Roundup
has only "contact", and no "residual", action
(see footnote 2).
Good-bye weeds, good-bye mulch, good-bye insects, good-bye
biodiversity.
Good-bye Monsanto's version of sustainability.
As the New Scientist concluded: "The biotech industry is
developing two very
different sales pitches for its products - one for farmers and
one for the
rest of us."
(Natural Law Party Wessex - Nov '98)
nlpwessex@bigfoot.com
This item plus general information on GM agronomic and other
problems
available from our web site.
www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex
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Footnote1:
Bob Shapiro, Chief Executive of Monsanto, admitting that the
effects of
genetic engineering are unknown and "to some degree"
unknowable (SWF News
interview, San Francisco, 27 October 1998):
"But we realize that with any new and powerful technology
with unknown, and
to some degree unknowable - by definition - effects, then there
necessarily
will be an appropriate level at least, and maybe even more than
that, of
public debate and public interest."
Footnote 2:
Research by Cyanamid shows that Roundup-Ready soyabeans may need
several
applications of glyphospate in order to achieve a similar level
of weed
control to existing residual herbicides (see
www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex/Documents/cyanamid.htm
).