Genetically
Engineered Crops Now Increasing Pesticide Use in
the United States
PRESS
RELEASE
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November
25, 2003
The
planting of 550 million acres of genetically engineered
(GE) corn, soybeans and cotton in the United States
since 1996 has increased pesticide use by about
50 million pounds, according to a report released
today by the Northwest Science and Environmental
Policy Center.
The
report is the first comprehensive study of the impacts
of all major commercial GE crops on pesticide use
in the United States over the first eight years
of commercial use, 1996-2003. It draws on official
U.S. Department of Agriculture data on pesticide
use by crop and state. The report is entitled "Impacts
of Genetically Engineered Crops on Pesticide Use
in the United States: The First Eight Years,"
and is the sixth in a series of "Technical
Papers" prepared for Ag BioTech InfoNet.
It
is being published today via the Internet (hard
copies will not be provided, but can be printed
for free from the website). The report calculates
the difference between the average pounds of pesticides
applied on acres planted to GE crops compared to
the pounds applied to otherwise similar conventional
crops. In their first three years of commercial
sales (1996-1998), GE crops reduced pesticide use
by about 25.4 million pounds, but in the last three
years (2001-2003), over 73 million more pounds of
pesticides were applied on GE acres.
Substantial
increases in herbicide use on "Herbicide Tolerant"
(HT) crops, especially soybeans, accounted for the
increase in pesticide use on GE acres compared to
acres planted to conventional plant varieties. Many
farmers have had to spray incrementally more herbicides
on GE acres in order to keep up with shifts in weeds
toward tougher-to-control species, coupled with
the emergence of genetic resistance in certain weed
populations.
"For
years weed scientists have warned that heavy reliance
on herbicide tolerant crops would trigger ecological
changes in farm fields that would incrementally
erode the technology’s effectiveness. It now
appears that this process began in 2001 in the United
States in the case of herbicide tolerant crops,"
according to Benbrook.
The
report concludes that the other major category of
GE crops, corn and cotton engineered to produce
the natural insecticide Bacillus thuringiensis (
Bt) in plant cells, continues to reduce insecticide
use by 2 million to 2.5 million pounds annually.
The increase in herbicide use on HT crop acres,
however, far exceeds the modest reductions in insecticide
use on acres planted to Bt crops, especially since
2001.
The
46-page report is posted on Ag BioTech InfoNet at
-- http://wwww.biotech-info.net/technicalpaper6.html
Dr.
Benbrook has a PhD. in agricultural economics and
has carried out several studies on the impacts of
genetically engineered crops on farming systems
and costs and the environment. He directs the Northwest
Science and Environmental Policy Center, which is
based in Sandpoint, Idaho. >From 1984 through
1990, he served as the Executive Director of the
National Academy of Sciences Board on Agriculture.
Financial
and in-kind support for this study was provided
by: The Union of Concerned Scientists; The Leopold
Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University;
Consumer Policy Institute, Consumers Union; The
Center for Food Safety; Institute for Agriculture
and Trade Policy; and The Organic Farming Research
Foundation.
For
More Information:
Contact
Dr. Benbrook at
208-263-5236
or via e-mail
benbrook@hillnet.co
