EPA To Limit Future GMO Corn Crops
As we learned in GMO Truth Podcast #6, a big part of the GMO pitch was the reduction of pesticide use and replacing harsher pesticides with less toxic ones, primarily referring to glyphosate. But has the promise to reduce pesticides held up? Now a voracious pest, the corn root worm, is amplifying the problem.
The Corn Root Worm is wreaking havoc on GMO corn crops. Click the pic to view original photo on WikiMedia Commons.
As Nation of Change reported in late 2015:
Genetically modified crops, corn specifically, has created a pesticide resistant rootworm, that is now stronger and more numerous than ever before.
And according to the Wall Street Journal this week:
The EPA is concerned that if the resistance continues, it will lead farmers to use more synthetic chemicals to thwart the bug, creating environmental risks.
They also report that the EPA will limit future GMO corn crops in the U.S., and the agency’s proposal would require seed companies to limit some Midwestern farmers’ practice of sowing fields with corn year after year in areas harboring resistant rootworms, whose cream-colored larvae gnaw on corn roots and stunt plants’ growth. But again, as we learned in GMO TRUTH Podcast #6, herbicide residue scan remain in the soil, raising questions of how much residue accumulates or for how long, after using the same chemicals over and over again.
Bill Jordan, the EPA’s deputy head of pesticide programs says, “It’s is getting worse, what’s happened so far hasn’t prevented these problems from arising, so we see a need for something more.”
However, the fact that the EPA wants to implement restrictions presents a very interesting problem because it is actually the US government that is responsible for the overproduction of corn in the first place, thanks to massive farm subsidies.
Seems we’ve created another self-inflicted problem, and solid solutions to this one remain to be seen.
For more, see the original article links below:
http://www.nationofchange.org/2015/09/02/epa-raises-alarm-over-gmo-crops-that-are-breeding-swarms-of-these-mutant-bugs/
http://healthimpactnews.com/2015/epa-seeks-limits-on-gmo-corn-as-pest-resistance-grows/
Original featured image here:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Corn#/media/File:Corn_fields_Iowa.JPG
