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GMO plants require fewer, not more pesticides. For one thing, insecticides become less important as plants can fend for themselves. But even herbicides - a ty
by DenisM 12y ago
GMO plants require fewer, not more pesticides.
For one thing, insecticides become less important as plants can fend for themselves.
But even herbicides - a typical non-GMO plant is sprayed by half-dozen herbicides at different stages of growth cycle, whereas a GMO plant would be sprayed with roundup exactly twice.
If you want to avoid pesticides altogether, you'd have to weed out pests manually, which is way more expensive, so is only used for boutique foods. You can argue it's worth the price, but it's not a GMO fight.
- SoftwareMaven 12y agoIt varies by the plant. Many GMO plants are engineered to tolerate RoundUp, allowing farmers to use greater amounts for the control of noxious plants around their farms. Those noxious plants have also started developing some resistance to RoundUp, causing even greater quantities to be used.
- stinos 12y agoNot exactly good news, seeing that glyphosate (the RoundUp ingredient) traces have been found in food and have been 'possibly' linked to various diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's. ('possibly' because more studies are needed, especially to whatever long-term effetcs there might or might not be). On the other hand, it's maybe the lesser of evils as the other pesticides used are probably no better.