AFP -
Global environmental watchdog Greenpeace launched a new report Monday warning
the European Union against authorising herbicide-tolerant genetically
engineered (HTGE) crops, saying they would lead to herbicide-resistant
super-weeds.
"When
herbicide-tolerant crops are relied on heavily, they trigger the spread and
emergence of resistant weeds, which has now happened throughout the United
States," said Oregon-based agricultural economist Charles Benbrook, who
was commissioned by Greenpeace to study the issue.
"Then
farmers have to spray much more heavily, turning to older, higher-risk
herbicides which increases risk to both their cost of production as well as the
public health problems associated with herbicide use," Benbrook told AFP,
adding: "We're solidly in that phase in the US."
The launch
of the report in Warsaw, Poland comes as the 27-member EU considers authorising
26 genetically engineered crops, including 19 that are tolerant to herbicides,
Greenpeace said.
Benbrook
has predicted EU farmers risk using up to 15 times more glyphosate-type
herbicides on HTGE corn, soy and sugar beet crops to stem the growth of super-weeds
over a 14-year period (2012-2025), as well as inflated prices for genetically
modified seeds, should Brussels allow them.
Greenpeace
commissioned Benbrook to complete a study on glyphosate-tolerant crops in the
EU based on data on use of the herbicides in the US.
US biotech
giant Monsanto brought glyphosate to the market in the 1970s under the Roundup
trademark, but it is now off-patent and has become the most commonly used
herbicide in the US.
While its
producers claim glyphosate has relatively low toxicity compared to other
herbicides, concerns persist about its environmental and human impacts.
"If EU
farmers take up HTGE technology as quickly as in the US, glyphosate use in
maize crops -- the most important and widely grown crop in Europe -? will
increase by over 1,000 percent by 2025 over current use, and total herbicide
use will double," Greenpeace warned in a Monday statement quoting the
Benbrook study.
Benbrook
and two US farmers are on an 18-day Greenpeace tour of Europe to meet farmers,
local communities and politicians to share their concerns about HTGE crops.
Greenpeace
campaigner Lasse Bruun also unveiled the YouTube launch of "Growing
Doubt" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNxhw2jiDtA&noredirect=1), a
Greenpeace documentary focused on the experience of farmers in the US and
Argentina with HTGE crops and glyphosate-based herbicides.
It comes on
the heels of the "Bitter Seeds" documentary focused on an epidemic of
farmer suicides in India among peasants who have lost their land after falling
into debt using genetically modified crops.
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