THE DAY OF RECKONING FOR GM CROPS-REACHING THE DEAD END?

GM foods are facing enormous consumer resistance due to the "trust deficit" that exists to day between the GM food producers and the consumer, mainly because of the "opaque" manner in which the former work. While the safety of GM foods has not yet been established beyond a shadow of doubt, its potential environmental hazard is yet to be realized widely. It is another matter that 80% of the processed foods consumed in the US contain one or more of GM food ingredients, without the consumer ever knowing about it! The emerging consumer awareness about the uncertainties inherent in GM foods is putting pressure on the industry to declare the presence of GM ingredients in packed foods as a part of the label. Though the GM food lobby is powerful enough to deflect criticisms, the recent report that even they are rattled by the emergence of weedicide resistant weeds which seem to have adversely affected the crop yields. Here is a take on this new development with far reaching implications.

"This is a complex problem," said weed scientist David Shaw in remarks to a national "summit" of weed experts in Washington to come up with a plan to battle weeds that have developed resistance to herbicides. Weed resistance has spread to more than 12 million U.S. acres and primarily afflicts key agricultural areas in the U.S. Southeast and the corn and soybean growing areas of the Midwest. Many of the worst weeds, some of which grow more than six feet and can sharply reduce crop yields, have become resistant to the popular glyphosate-based weed-killer Roundup, as well as other common herbicides. Monsanto Co's Roundup worked well for many years. It became prevalent with the commercialization of "Roundup Ready" crops Monsanto developed to tolerate the weedkiller, making it easy for farmers to treat their fields. But now super weeds have developed a resistance to Roundup, and farmers are scrambling to figure out how to combat their weeds. "We don't have that next technology. We have to get back to the fundamentals," said Shaw, who chairs a task force that is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on how to tackle weed resistance problems. Several farmers spoke out about their struggles at the summit, as did experts from the USDA and crop consultants. "This is our number one issue," said Arkansas crop consultant Chuck Farr. "It is a challenge every day, every field." Harold Coble, an agromist and weed scientist with the USDA, called the problem of weed resistance a "game changer" and said farmers must become more versatile. Too many have simply been relying on the chemicals for too long, he said.

Whether the above development will restrain further growth of the GM food industry is some thing to be watched in future. Already the cost of GM seeds and the high cost of cultivation of such crops are impediments for the growth of the industry. Promised yield increase using GM seeds is not happening in many places where cultivation of GM crops has been popular for some time. If the GM technology innovators are not able to find a solution to this emerging dangers, there is every likelihood of farmers reverting to conventional agricultural practices which may sound the death knell for the GM crops industry.  

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
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