Community | April 22, 2009 | 23 comments

Monsanto's GM crops spawning superweed epidemic in U.S.

source: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_17602.cfm

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JanforGore
In 2007, 10,000 acres of land were abandoned in Macon country, the epicenter of the superweed explosion, North Carolina State University's Alan York told local media.

'Superweed' explosion threatens Monsanto heartlands
France 24, 19 April 2009
http://tiny.cc/vTMid

"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.

GM protesters demonstrate near the French town of Toulouse in March 2008. How has this happened? Farmers over-relied on Monsanto's revolutionary and controversial combination of a single "round up" herbicide and a high-tech seed with a built-in resistance to glyphosate, scientists say.

Today, 100,000 acres in Georgia are severely infested with pigweed and 29 counties have now confirmed resistance to glyphosate, according to weed specialist Stanley Culpepper from the University of Georgia. http://mulch.cropsoil.uga.edu/weedsci/

"Farmers are taking this threat very seriously. It took us two years to make them understand how serious it was. But once they understood, they started taking a very aggressive approach to the weed," Culpepper told FRANCE 24.

"Just to illustrate how aggressive we are, last year we hand-weeded 45% of our severely infested fields," said Culpepper, adding that the fight involved "spending a lot of money."

In 2007, 10,000 acres of land were abandoned in Macon country, the epicenter of the superweed explosion, North Carolina State University's Alan York told local media. http://deltafarmpress.com/cotton/palmer-amaranth-1226/

The perfect weed

Had Monsanto wanted to design a deadlier weed, they probably could not have done better. Resistant pigweed is the most feared superweed, alongside horseweed, ragweed and waterhemp.
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23 comments // Monsanto's GM crops spawning superweed epidemic in U.S.

  • sk8bs55
  • darkhorsejim
  • artemis6
    • 0
      artemis6  

    • The human race is , I believe , good . It is The greedy Corporations that need to be abolished . They are EVIL . I have long fought against them , since they have more power than is good for any sane organization . They act as a psychopath might , only on a global level .

    • 3 years ago
  • hammywill
  • krush_productions
  • PressCore
    • 0
      PressCore  

    • During the 1960s, a sci fi thriller movie "The Day of the Triffids" was released. It was a story of E.T. alien spores from outer space depositing a species of huge carnivorous plants onto the Earth which multiplied quickly. Any human that got close to these venus flytrap like flora got consumed into its plant structure. Wouldn't it be a hoot to use a Monsanto geneticist to devise one of these triffids which would only search and destroy other Monsanto employees ? Ie to only
      specificaly attack the DNA of Monsanto employees, and then self destruct itself as a failsafe.There must be some gene in the code of humans that draws humans to join up with that monster evil organization that would top Hitler's criminal insanity. If Monsanto's own employees could simply pinpoint it, they could devise a triffid like an immune T cell antibody that would engulf and eliminate them. I know I'd pay good money to invest in any bona fide project that would have the effect of irradicating Monsanto from everywhere on this Earth. Think I'm kidding ? Why do you think there are terrorist organizations in this World hell bent on destroying the USA any way they can ? Can you immagine how extremely pissed the people of Afghanistan are to know that Monsanto has invaded their country, preying upon them as they have the people of Africa and India because they're poor ? I can't think of a more efficient way to provoke foreign people's hatred against the USA It's precisely
      because of rogue Corporations like Dupont/Monsanto which grease government corruption into routine business as usual. That's likely how Hitler/Mussolini thought when they got too comfortable with their Fascist plans for world domination.

    • 3 years ago
  • hedonic
  • kenandweezy
    • 0
      kenandweezy  

    • monsanto and other corporations are only in it for profit.you can bet they will try to publicly downgrade or minimize this news.Be sure this does'nt occur by spreading this globally and locally.p.s. momsanto is partly owned by Exxon/mobil and what are these things made from? Oil!

    • 3 years ago
  • Elligirl
    • 0
      Elligirl  

    • Couldn't have seen this coming. If mosquitoes can become resistant to DDT in a few generations, what made Monsanto think plants wouldn't do the same?

    • 3 years ago
  • PressCore
    • 0
      PressCore  
    • Elligirl:

      Greed, unethical manipulation, exploitation,entrapment, then hyperaggressive predatory practices resulting in the mass suicide of farmers...All these evil things are the forte of Monsanto. But thinking ? I seriously doubt that would be their strong suit. If their people anticipated that plants could become resistant, they wouldn't care because they likely know full well all their methods are a scam to do people out of their money anyway.

    • 3 years ago
  • artemis6
    • 0
      artemis6  

    • Of course she does , didn't you ever watch Godzilla ? Just study evolution - it will scare the bagezuz out of you when you throw in how we have tampered with her . She has had billions of years to perfect balance . We have tampered with this balance on every level . She is gonna cosmic bitch slap us !

    • 3 years ago
  • Wrabon
  • masterzip
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • Why was the News tag taken off of this entry? How come when others post in News about Monsanto that does not happen? Please leave my tags alone whoever you are.

    • 3 years ago
  • MinneapolisMafia
  • Mymicz1
  • fishmanalan86
  • charfman
    • 0
      charfman  

    • If it's the same pigweed we have here in the Northeast it is good to eat... It's tastes a lot like spinach... i forage gor it every summer... One mans weed is another mans meal...

    • 3 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • Unfortunately, it is us reaping the poison from what they sowed, with our government's approval. But people are now so diverted in defending Michelle Obama's little garden, that nothing else seems to matter.

    • 3 years ago
  • hammywill
  • lordsbassman
  • numinant
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • It is simply a moral imperative to not allow Earth Day to pass without warning people of the dangers of what Monsanto and companies like them are doing to kill our planet's biodiversity: GM test tube food implanted with viruses that have not been properly tested for safety; poison pesticides and herbicides polluting our land, air, and waterways; a concerted effort to control the entire world food supply from seed to fork in an attempt to put organic farmers out of business; gestapo tactics used to intimidate farmers for profit; transgenic contamination from GM crops and pharma crops, and now ethanol crops that can contaminate our food supply; bullying tactics in our legislatures to keep labels clear of their GM ingredients to give consumers a chance to make an educated decision regarding what they want to eat; being so arrogant as to think THEY have the right to actually patent life; farmer suicides in India... Just a few of the consequences of allowing Monsanto to stay in business all of these years poisoning us with PCBs, Agent Orange, Dioxin, Aspartame, Sacharrin, DDT, and other lovely substances they lied to the public about in telling us they were "safe."

      So on this Earth Day I think I will take the liberty of saying this to the one company that has done more to poison this planet under the guise of caring for it than any other:

      The day of reckoning for the destruction wrecked on this planet will come. Mother nature never forgets.

      Happy Earth Day.

    • 3 years ago
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