Canola Essay

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Genetically Modified Canola Brassica napus, or its more common name, Canola is the world’s healthiest oil. Canola can provide high protein and can now be used as a biofuel (“What is Canola?”, 2017). With all its uses, you can expect that Canola is within high demand. In North Dakota alone one million acers of Canola are grown (Brumfiel,2010). The only problem holding farmers back from growing Canola freely is that Canola has a problem with weeds and these weeds can be very difficult to kill. Farmers must normally mix herbicide into the soil in the spring to prevent weeds from interfering with the Canola crop (“Why Farmers Choose Herbicide-Tolerant Canola”, 2017). This is a very labor intensive process and can waste time they could spend on …show more content…

Yet many countries refuse to grow it and some refuse to even import it. Why should these countries use genetically modified Canola? In Canada, this crop has been around ever since it was created it has increased the economy (Hursh, 2014). This is due to the fact that farmers spend less money and time on trying to mix herbicide into the soil, and less money on herbicide in all. Most farmers spend a lot of money on the use and repair of their machine, but now they use fewer machines and spend less time on a tractor. Also, the easier it is to maintain crop, the more you can grow of it. Lastly, GM Canola is only resistant to glyphosate herbicide. This herbicide is known to be easier on the environment (Department of Economic Development, 2017). This encourages farmers to have less negative impact on the environment. Also, with farmers using a certain type of herbicide in Australia, farmers have used 705 tons less of herbicide on their …show more content…

What reasons do countries like South Africa have for refusing Genetically Modified Canola? Well, Canola has now become its own type of weed. It easily spreads and cannot be killed with any weed killer (Hursh, 2014). Why is that a problem? Well, Canola will now compete with wild plants for space and in itself has become a type of invasive species. Even though scientist have proven this not to be a huge problem, the real problem is that the Canola plants are cross pollenating with wild plants (Brumfiel, 2010). This leads to wild plants building up a resistance to herbicides. Another problem caused by Canola is the monopolies created by the companies that sell the genetically modified seeds (Hursh, 2014). There is a process called seed saving, which is where you use seeds from this year’s harvest to plant next year. But, the seed companies have a rule in the farmer’s contract that requires that they buy new seeds every year. This makes the farmers dependent on the companies, and can also lead to legal trouble (Hursh, 2014). Another monopoly that is created is between the farmers and the Herbicide companies. When the farmers use herbicide, they are required to use a certain type. The company can raise the prices of their herbicide however high they would like, because the farmers are the one paying for the killer, not the companies. This once again cause legal trouble, and if the

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