'Superweed' Explosion Threatens Monsanto Heartlands France 24, 19 April 2009
EDITED
Superweeds are plaguing high-tech Monsanto crops in southern US states,
driving farmers to use more herbicides, return to conventional crops or even
abandon their farms.
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, popped up in GM
crops in Georgia. Superweeds have since alarmingly appeared in South
Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri.
Monsanto is encouraging farmers to mix glyphosate and older herbicides such
as 2,4-D, a herbicide which was banned in Sweden, Denmark and Norway over
its links to cancer, reproductive harm and mental impairment.
According to a number of agricultural specialists, farmers are considering
moving back to conventional crops. But it's all down to economics, they
say. GM crops are becoming expensive, growers say.
ENDS