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You have that completely wrong. GMO's ushered in reduced pesticide use and the pesticides that are used are safer. I say this as a fertilizer company agronomi
by rmason 5y ago
You have that completely wrong. GMO's ushered in reduced pesticide use and the pesticides that are used are safer. I say this as a fertilizer company agronomist that was working when GMO's appeared. The amount of fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) around GMO's is high.
- simulate-me 5y agoThe only papers I've seen that indicate GMO has reduced pesticide use were published by various industry groups with unclear ties to pesticide manufacturers. Academic papers seem to indicate pesticide use is higher, especially as the pests develop a resistance to the pesticide. E.g. https://enveurope.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/2190-4715-24-24 https://enveurope.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/2190-471... > Contrary to often-repeated claims that today’s genetically-engineered crops have, and are reducing pesticide use, the spread of glyphosate-resistant weeds in herbicide-resistant weed management systems has brought about substantial increases in the number and volume of herbicides applied.
- xxpor 5y agoPeople in this thread don't agree on the definition of "pesticide" The linked paper does say insecticide use went down, but herbicide use went up.
- simulate-me 5y agoGrouping insecticide and herbicide together: > Overall, pesticide use increased by an estimated 183 million kgs (404 million pounds), or about 7%.
- christophilus 5y agoI meant herbicides, so my original comment is wrong. That said, I’d be surprised if GMO really has managed to reduce pesticide usage. I’m pretty skeptical of big-tobacco-like scientific studies. Do you know of a good study that shows this, and which isn’t funded by Bayer or some similarly motivated company?