‘Superweed’ explosion threatens Monsanto heartlands

Sunday 19 April 2009
By Clea CAULCUTT
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“Superweeds” are plaguing high-tech Monsanto crops in southern US states, driving farmers to use more herbicides, return to conventional crops or even abandon their farms

The gospel of high-tech genetically modified (GM) crops is not sounding quite so sweet in the land of the converted. A new pest, the evil pigweed, is hitting headlines and chomping its way across Sun Belt states, threatening to transform cotton and soybean plots into weed battlefields.

In late 2004, “superweeds” that resisted Monsanto’s iconic “Roundup” herbicide, popped up in GM crops in the county of Macon, Georgia. Monsanto, the US multinational biotech corporation, is the world’s leading producer of Roundup, as well as genetically engineered seeds. Company figures show that nine out of 10 US farmers produce Roundup Ready seeds for their soybean crops.

Superweeds have since alarmingly appeared in other parts of Georgia, as well as South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri, according to media reports. Roundup contains the active ingredient glyphosate, which is the most used herbicide in the USA. (read more here)

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Then, below you will find a video sent out by Michael Pollan. He is the author of many books and my favorite is: The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. I have previously posted about Michael Pollan and to find many recordings of his talks click here.

About the video: As Michael Pollan states in his note,there was very little time to talk about this so serious problem. But from the introduction it sounds that Michael Pollan gave a lecture before and then came the debate.

On Wednesday I participated in a panel discussion with Hugh Grant, the president/CEO of Monsanto, and Sonal Shah, a development expert at Google.org. It was moderated by Larry Brilliant, of Google-org, and held on the Google Campus. It was just posted on Youtube. As you can see, we only had 30 minutes and barely scratched the surface, but it’s rare that Monsanto engages with its critics, so something you won’t see everyday.”Creating a World That Can Feed Itself” Let me know what you think. –Michael