USA – US Government regulators have approved a new generation of genetically engineered corn and soybeans. These new seeds are the latest ‘weapons’ in an arms race between farmers and weeds, and the US government’s green light has provoked anger and strong opposition from environmentalists.
The actual decision, at first glance, seems limited and technical. The US Environmental Protection Agency announced it had “registered” a new weed killer formula that contains two older herbicides: Glyphosate (a.k.a Roundup) and 2, 4-D.
Versions of these weed killers have been around for decades. But farmers in six Midwestern states will be allowed to use the new formula, called Enlist Duo, on their corn and soybeans. And that counts as big news.
The federal government announced that farmers can now plant soybeans like these ones genetically engineered by the biotech company Dow Agrosciences to tolerate doses of the two weed killers.
Farmers will now be able to plant new types of corn and soybeans that have been genetically engineered by the biotech company Dow Agrosciences to tolerate doses of those two weed killers.
The beauty of herbicide-resistant crops is that they make the herbicides exquisitely selective: They kill the weeds but not the crop. So farmers can spray either glyphosate or 2, 4-D (or both) to wipe out weeds without harming their corn or soybeans. And that may actually be one of the most significant developments in the world of weed killing in more than a decade.
Another similar new weed killing combination of the chemical Dicamba and genetically engineered, Dicamba-resistant crops is awaiting government approval. Promoters of these new herbicide-crop combinations say they are a big step forward.
However, critics and environmentalists are calling them a mindless step into deregulation of food production and a dull acquiescence of government to multinationals into the development of ever-increasing human dependence on toxic chemicals.
Not to mention the mass erosion of the civil and humanitarian rights of communities and individuals to own their seeds – the loss of seed security and eventually in food security itself.
But there has been a sustained demand for such technologies because the last weed-fighting weapons are starting to fail. Over the past two decades, farmers have come to rely, to an extraordinary extent, on glyphosate paired with “Roundup Ready” crops. An increasing number of weeds have now evolved resistance to glyphosate. Farmers have had to resort to weed killing chemicals that are more costly and often harder to manage. Many of those chemicals can’t be sprayed directly on crops because they’d kill them.
Environmentalists and critics of genetically engineered crops condemned the EPA’s decision Wednesday, arguing that it leads farmers “further down the futile path of chemical dependency,” In the words of Andrew Kimbrell from the Center for Food Safety. Mary Ellen Kustin, from the Environmental Working Group, said in a statement that “this continued arms race between chemical companies and super weeds is a threat to sustainable farming and public health. EPA’s decision to up the ante of Roundup by approving Enlist Duo is unconscionable.”
In fact, the EPA’s green light to Enlist Duo did contain some unusual provisions that the agency could eventually use to restrict its use. The EPA is requiring that Dow monitor the use of the new herbicide, work with farmers to avoid overusing it and come up with plans to fight weeds that become resistant to the new weed killer. In addition, the EPA’s approval of Enlist Duo is temporary, and will expire in six years.
On the same day that the EPA approved the new herbicide, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a new program aimed at fighting the problem of herbicide-resistant weeds. According to the USDA statement, this problem “will not be solved solely through the application of new herbicides.” USDA scientists will carry out research on non-chemical ways to control weeds, such as cover crops, and promote their use among farmers.
