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> the atrociously excessive use of pesticides that GMO seeds promote I would appreciate if you could provide a link or a reference for that claim?

by sampo 13y ago

omegaworks 13y ago
It's their primary product: RoundupReady seeds are seeds that have been genetically engineered to be resistant to the Roundup pesticide. This allows farmers to plant the RoundupReady seeds, spray Roundup indiscriminately everywhere, and be certain that everything is dead except the crop. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundup_Ready_soybean http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundup_Ready_soybean
Daishiman 13y ago
Soy monoculture in Argentina has destroyed soil quality, and gliphosate-resistant GMO seeds have motivated the large producers to spray indiscriminately to maximize returns. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-18997297 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-18997297 http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2013/10/21/photos-argentina-agrochemicals/6446/ http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2013/10/21/photos-argen...
- spikels 13y ago
  Neither of your links offer support for your statements. As the BBC article notes glyphosate is considered one of the "most environmentally friendly" farm chemicals by the World Health Organisation (glyphosate breakers down in water unlike older herbicides). GMOs and Monsanto are not even mentioned in the BBC article. Your second story is a photo essay with sad pictures but very little actual information. It is much more likely if farm chemicals did cause any of these illnesses it was older pesticides that are known to be much more dangerous. Do you have better evidence than this? If not why are you so sure you are correct?
  - Daishiman 13y ago
    A paper examining residual glyphosate on soybean crops with well-researched references to the health impacts on crops and humans, as well as analysis of additives to pesticides. http://www.testbiotech.de/sites/default/files/TBT_Background_Glyphosate_Argentina_0.pdf http://www.testbiotech.de/sites/default/files/TBT_Background... Aside from the known biological effects, the simple reality is that there are cancer cluster now where there weren't ten years ago, and the only variable explaining them is the appeareance of glyphosate-resistant soya bean plantations. This is enough for me to consider it a massive publich health issue, which is not being publicized given the tremendous importance of soybean in Argentine exports.
sampo 13y ago
Now let me tell something about normal agricultural practices: Do you know what is crop desiccation? [1] It's the application of glyphosate (brand-name: Roundup) a bit before harvesting, to ripen (read: killing the green parts, so the plant begins to dry) the plants to make harvest easier. And to make subsequent storing easier, as the drier plants e.g. are not so susceptible to mold etc. So, the application of herbicides (not pesticides like you wrote) to effectively poison the plants dead, to make harvesting and storing easier, is business-as-usual in agriculture. So yes, there are "Roundup ready" varieties of crop plants, that are resistant to glyphosate. So the farmer can kill the weeds with glyphosate, and the crop plants won't die. And if you only know this application of glyphosate, you probably make the conclusion that the "Roundup ready" GMO varieties would promote "atrociously excessive use of" glyphosate. But which do you think is actually more atrocious use? The business-as-usual use for crop desiccation before harvest, or the extra use during growth, allowed by the "Roundup ready" varieties? (Northern Europe and Switzerland are the only countries I know, that prohibit the use of herbicides for crop desiccation, if the crop is for human consumption.) [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_desiccation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_desiccation

> the atrociously excessive use of pesticides that GMO seeds promote I would appreciate if you could provide a link or a reference for that claim?

by sampo 13y ago

> the atrociously excessive use of pesticides that GMO seeds promote I would appreciate if you could provide a link or a reference for that claim?

omegaworks 13y ago

It's their primary product: RoundupReady seeds are seeds that have been genetically engineered to be resistant to the Roundup pesticide. This allows farmers to plant the RoundupReady seeds, spray Roundup indiscriminately everywhere, and be certain that everything is dead except the crop. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundup_Ready_soybean http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundup_Ready_soybean

Daishiman 13y ago

Soy monoculture in Argentina has destroyed soil quality, and gliphosate-resistant GMO seeds have motivated the large producers to spray indiscriminately to maximize returns. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-18997297 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-18997297 http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2013/10/21/photos-argentina-agrochemicals/6446/ http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2013/10/21/photos-argen...

spikels 13y ago
Neither of your links offer support for your statements. As the BBC article notes glyphosate is considered one of the "most environmentally friendly" farm chemicals by the World Health Organisation (glyphosate breakers down in water unlike older herbicides). GMOs and Monsanto are not even mentioned in the BBC article. Your second story is a photo essay with sad pictures but very little actual information. It is much more likely if farm chemicals did cause any of these illnesses it was older pesticides that are known to be much more dangerous. Do you have better evidence than this? If not why are you so sure you are correct?
- Daishiman 13y ago
  A paper examining residual glyphosate on soybean crops with well-researched references to the health impacts on crops and humans, as well as analysis of additives to pesticides. http://www.testbiotech.de/sites/default/files/TBT_Background_Glyphosate_Argentina_0.pdf http://www.testbiotech.de/sites/default/files/TBT_Background... Aside from the known biological effects, the simple reality is that there are cancer cluster now where there weren't ten years ago, and the only variable explaining them is the appeareance of glyphosate-resistant soya bean plantations. This is enough for me to consider it a massive publich health issue, which is not being publicized given the tremendous importance of soybean in Argentine exports.

sampo 13y ago

Now let me tell something about normal agricultural practices: Do you know what is crop desiccation? [1] It's the application of glyphosate (brand-name: Roundup) a bit before harvesting, to ripen (read: killing the green parts, so the plant begins to dry) the plants to make harvest easier. And to make subsequent storing easier, as the drier plants e.g. are not so susceptible to mold etc. So, the application of herbicides (not pesticides like you wrote) to effectively poison the plants dead, to make harvesting and storing easier, is business-as-usual in agriculture. So yes, there are "Roundup ready" varieties of crop plants, that are resistant to glyphosate. So the farmer can kill the weeds with glyphosate, and the crop plants won't die. And if you only know this application of glyphosate, you probably make the conclusion that the "Roundup ready" GMO varieties would promote "atrociously excessive use of" glyphosate. But which do you think is actually more atrocious use? The business-as-usual use for crop desiccation before harvest, or the extra use during growth, allowed by the "Roundup ready" varieties? (Northern Europe and Switzerland are the only countries I know, that prohibit the use of herbicides for crop desiccation, if the crop is for human consumption.) [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_desiccation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_desiccation