U.S. farmers are using more hazardous herbicides and pesticides to fight weeds and insects due largely to widespread adoption of genetically modified crop technologies that are sparking a rise of “superweeds” and hard-to-kill insects, according to a new study.
Genetically engineered crops have led to an increase in overall pesticide use, by 404 million pounds from the time they were introduced in 1996 through 2011, according to the report by Charles Benbrook, a research professor at the Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources at Washington State University.
“Resistant weeds have become a major problem for many farmers reliant on GE crops, and are now driving up the volume of herbicide needed each year by about 25 percent,” Benbrook said.
Monsanto Co. officials, maker of the widely used herbicide Roundup, had no immediate comment.
— From wire reports