4 ms·

When I've talked to anti-GMO people in real life, they seem to (1) be anti-Roundup and similar pesticides more so than literally anti-GMO or (2) be anti-IP laws

by vostok 4y ago

When I've talked to anti-GMO people in real life, they seem to (1) be anti-Roundup and similar pesticides more so than literally anti-GMO or (2) be anti-IP laws that won't allow farmers to use seeds from their last crop.

photochemsyn 4y ago
Yes, the opposition is as much about things like patents on seeds and refusing to allow farmers to harvest seeds for their next planting season. There's also the problem of making plants resistant to herbicides, then applying more herbicides, so you get lots of herbicide runoff into lakes and streams. This is really more about upping sales for the chemical manufacturer. Also there are better methods for getting rid of weeds, I particularly like these field-crawling robots that identify weed seedlings with AI-vision and blast them with IR lasers.
- vostok 4y ago
  That's a great point. I forgot to mention the IP issues. I hope you don't mind that I've edited my comment to include them.
Turing_Machine 4y ago
The overwhelming majority of farmers haven't "used seeds from their last crop" for well over a hundred years.
- aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
  And why is that? Actually?
  - Turing_Machine 4y ago
    Because modern hybrid seeds give much more productivity, but do not breed true. Corn variety 1 + Corn variety 2 -> Hybrid with high productivity, disease-resistance, or some other desirable trait (or a combination of desirable traits). However, the seeds from the hybrid will not be the same as the hybrid. Classically, you'll get some seeds that are more like CV1, some seeds that are like CV2, and some that are like the hybrid (in practice the genetics can be more complicated than that, but that's basically what's going to happen). If CV1 is resistant to devastating disease D1, and CV2 is resistant to devastating disease D2, the hybrid might be resistant to both D1 and D2. Great! But the seeds from the hybrid are different. 1/4 the seeds from the hybrid will be susceptible to D#1 and 1/4 will be susceptible to D#2, and 1/2 will still be resistant to both. That means that "saving your seeds" = 50% crop loss to disease, if both diseases are present.
    - vostok 4y ago
      That's great to know. Do you mind elaborating on the IP issues then? I feel like I don't fully understand them.

by vostok 4y ago

photochemsyn 4y ago

Yes, the opposition is as much about things like patents on seeds and refusing to allow farmers to harvest seeds for their next planting season. There's also the problem of making plants resistant to herbicides, then applying more herbicides, so you get lots of herbicide runoff into lakes and streams. This is really more about upping sales for the chemical manufacturer. Also there are better methods for getting rid of weeds, I particularly like these field-crawling robots that identify weed seedlings with AI-vision and blast them with IR lasers.

vostok 4y ago
That's a great point. I forgot to mention the IP issues. I hope you don't mind that I've edited my comment to include them.

Turing_Machine 4y ago

The overwhelming majority of farmers haven't "used seeds from their last crop" for well over a hundred years.

aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
And why is that? Actually?
- Turing_Machine 4y ago
  Because modern hybrid seeds give much more productivity, but do not breed true. Corn variety 1 + Corn variety 2 -> Hybrid with high productivity, disease-resistance, or some other desirable trait (or a combination of desirable traits). However, the seeds from the hybrid will not be the same as the hybrid. Classically, you'll get some seeds that are more like CV1, some seeds that are like CV2, and some that are like the hybrid (in practice the genetics can be more complicated than that, but that's basically what's going to happen). If CV1 is resistant to devastating disease D1, and CV2 is resistant to devastating disease D2, the hybrid might be resistant to both D1 and D2. Great! But the seeds from the hybrid are different. 1/4 the seeds from the hybrid will be susceptible to D#1 and 1/4 will be susceptible to D#2, and 1/2 will still be resistant to both. That means that "saving your seeds" = 50% crop loss to disease, if both diseases are present.
  - vostok 4y ago
    That's great to know. Do you mind elaborating on the IP issues then? I feel like I don't fully understand them.