As a farmer, there are many issues that arise due to ignorance or hazards. Roundup Ready cropping is one of those issues. The issue of Roundup Ready crops is a hot topic right now due to a little bit of ignorance and the potential hazards involved. Roundup is a herbicide with the active ingredient called glyphosate (“Farmers Relying on Herbicide”). When Roundup is applied to any type of vegetation, the chemical kills the plant in a week’s time. Roundup was created in 1996 by a chemist at Monsanto, an agricultural company (“Resistance Warning”). This new product would soon be the answer to many farmers’ prayers.
Now farmers can go over the fields once using fewer chemicals, less time, and less money Farmers came to love Roundup Ready crops that 70% of cotton and 91% of soybeans was Roundup Ready crops (“Resistance Warning”). By 2013, Roundup Ready corn had reached 90% of the corn grown in the United States (Smith). Between 1995 and 1998, a study showed that the “total number of applications decreased by 8% even with the increase in total acreage” (Carpenter and Gianessi). Roundup kills a wide variety of plants, so farmers could now spray a field once and this one spray would kill almost all the weeds in the field.
To this day Monsanto still owns the patent to Roundup Ready, but that patent is soon to expire in 2015 (“Roundup and Roundup Ready Crops”). Now farmers are starting to wander what will happen if Monsanto does not renew the patent on their Roundup Ready products. Roundup Ready crops are one of the greatest innovations in the world of agriculture, but they could be harmful to humans or the animals that consume these crops. Roundup Ready crops are crops that have been genetically engineered, altered, to be resistant to ...
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...M Crops Lead to Herbicide Addiction”. Grist. N.p., n.d.. Web. 14 Apr. 2014
Kruft, David. “Impacts Of Genetically-Modified Crops and Seeds on Farmers”. The Agricultural Law Resource and Reference Center. The Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University, Nov. 2001. Web. 29 Apr. 2014
Newman, William and Andrew Pollack. “Farmers Cope With Roundup-Resistant Weeds”. The New York Times. The New York Times, 3 May 2010. Web. 14 Apr. 2014
"Resistance Warning Given For GM Herbicide-Tolerant Crops." Ecos 141 (2008): 34. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
“Roundup And Roundup Ready Crops Do Threaten Public Health”. GM-Free Cymru. N.p.. 13 Jan 2012. Web. 18 Mar 2014.
Smith, Nicola. “Roundup Ready Or Not: There Seems To Be Little Middle Ground On the Subject of Genetically-Engineered Crops”. Valley News. Valley News, 4 Aug. 2013. Web. 14 Apr. 2014
The three main brands of the company in India are Bt Cotton, Dekalb and Roundup. According to the Monsanto Webpages,“Dekalb is a high-yielding hybrid maize seeds, and Roundup is a glyphosate-based product that is a solution to weeds in the farms.” Bt Cotton is a Pest resistant and high yielding genetically modified cotton seeds which have been in use in India since 2002. This is the only GM crop allowed in India by the government because it is not a food crop and it accounts for 93% of the cotton grown in India. Also with the introduction of Bt Cotton in the last 12 years, India has recently become the largest exporter of cotton in the world. Bt Brinjal was allowed in India ,but had to be withdrawn due to the pressure from various social and political groups and since then no GM food has been allowed to be grown in India. Neighbouring country Bangladesh has allowed Bt Brinjal to be grown. To conclude, Monsanto is an active agricultural company doing research and producing high yielding and pest resistant seeds, also producing Roundup in order to help farmers improve production of farms.
Over Monsanto’s corporate timeline, they have been accused of many crimes, one of them being fraudulent statements or false advertising. In 1976, Monsanto launched a weed killer called Roundup. It “became the world’s top-selling herbicide (Derricks).” Monsanto was then sued
Monsanto employs over 20,000 employees dispersed throughout their facilities within 69 countries. John F. Queeny, founder of Monsanto, started the company in 1901, which at first manufactured saccharine. Later, John son Edward directed the companies into the agriculture industry. The company is best known producing Round up, an herbicide, and for developing genetically modified (GM) through biotechnology. “Monsanto developed G.M. seeds that would resist its own herbicide, Roundup, offering farmers a convenient way to spray fields with weed killer without affecting crops” (Barlett, D. L. & Steele, J. B, 2008). Since the start up the company has encounter several lawsuits, patent issues and critics. The company also faces many concerns about the
Why we should ban GMO’s? In GMOs 101 Stephen H. Howell, director the Plant Sciences Institute at Iowa State University, stated “Other GM plants, such as Roundup Ready corn, were created to survive the spraying of the herbicide Roundup, which kills weeds and would normally kill the plant, too”. It tells how some crops were made to survive herbicide sprays that would normally kill the plant, like Roundup. Think about that for a minute, the plant can withstand round up, which is deadly to humans, should anyone really be consuming
On the contrary, the tools of GE are created to snip nature’s crop by damaging the environment, increasing the number of herbicides and pesticides used and the risk of permanent genetic trash. Monsanto and other companies mention their seeds and food have been tested for safety. But no environment or food safety has been recorded on genetically engineered crops and foods before commercialization. The companies have done the whole enchilada within their level to steal the rights to safe and healthy foods from the societies and consumers. Vandana emphasizes that other organization have told that soybean covered with Roundup crops are additional estrogen and could claim as hormones. Dairy cows that eat Roundup Ready soybeans produce milk with increased fat levels that cows that eat consistent soybeans. Vandana complicates matters further when she writes. “Super weeds could lead to "bio invasions," displacing local diversity and taking over entire ecosystems.” Monsanto and a former life sciences organizations created a method of injecting the toxin producing gene from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) into corps. This specific BT gene harvest a toxin that restricts insects, and the genetically engineered BT plants and therefore, able to create their own
Monsanto is a multinational agricultural and agrochemical biotechnology corporation based in America and is the largest producer of genetically engineered seeds. Monsanto argues that using science and newfound research to create genetically modified food is necessary in order to save our world from starvation. Eduardo Blumwald, a professor of cell biology and employee for Monsanto, says that genetically modified food could be “the only viable solution we have for our future” (Ostrander 24) where it is predicted that the temperature and population will soar. Blumwald argues that without genetically engineering food to produce under high temperatures with little water, the world could potentially starve in this predicted future. Yet regardless of “biotech industry promises, none of the GMO traits currently on the market offer increased yield, drought tolerance, enhanced nutrition, or any other consumer benefit” (“GMO Facts”). Instead, Monsanto genetically modifies food to resist RoundUp, a pesticide the company has created to kill any plants or bugs other than the genetically engineered crop. According to the World Health Organization, this pesticide “is a probable human carcinogen” (“GMOs”) due to glyphosate, a
A debate is ragging over the advancements being made in genetic engineering. Scientist discovered that genes are the map of every aspect of a living organism, this has furthermore led to the prospect of altering this coding. By modifying one’s genes parents will one day be able to pick the color of their unborn child’s eyes and farmers will have the ability to develop plants that will produce bigger and healthier harvest. With the growing anticipation that some feel towards genetically modified crops others question it effects on the surrounding environments. Often pesticides are more heavily relied on for genetically modified crops and some cases have found pollination decreased in areas dominated by GM plants. Since there are so many aspects of genetic modification that have yet to be explored, much more research is required before distributing GM seeds internationally, but from the information already available the sides have begun to divide.
Conversely, there have been multiple indicators correlating these products to cancer, allergies, infertility, organ damage, genetic defects, and premature death. Scientists do not come to an agreement regarding these investigations, because most findings have been derived from short medical studies of 12 months or less. It is known that “short-term studies are useful for ruling out acute toxicity, but do not provide valid evidence regarding the long-term safety of GMOs”. (Fagan, Antoniou, Claire
Monsanto scrutinizes neighboring farms, practicing their right to enforce their patent and contract. What they take into account and chose to ignore is that their genetic product is natural and cannot be controlled completely. Monsanto’s patent allows them to prosecute neighboring farms for any concentration of their patented genetic code in their crops, regardless of whether a farmer knowingly involved themselves in infringement or was the victim of natural pollination. Barlett and Steele cite the increasing number of legal cases and settlements as means of pressuring contracted farmers to follow procedure and of allegedly pressuring uncontracted farmers to sign with Monsanto to avoid
Thesis Statement: Research suggests that GMO's (genetically modified organisms/products) could be harmful for people and the environment because of their potential to produce new allergens, increase toxicity, decrease nutritional value, and increase bacterial antibiotic resistance. Bakshi, A. K. (2003). Potential adverse health effects of genetically modified crops. Journal Of Toxicology And Environmental Health,Part B, 6, 211-225. Retrieved from http://globalseminarhealth.wdfiles.com/local--files/nutrition/Bakshi.pdf This article is one of the pioneering research papers that addresses the potential negative impact of genetically modified crops.
If crops were affected by droughts, disease and insects, having destroyed many acres across America’s Midwest region, the use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) would not be beneficial in regenerating new crops. Genetically modifying foods (GMOs) “are plants or animals that have been genetically engineered with DNA from bacteria, viruses or other plants and animals that cannot occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding” (nongmoproject.org). Most research done has concluded no positive benefits in using GMOs. There are serious health risks associated with eating GM foods based on scientific research done around the world. The purpose of GMOs are to increase production of crop yield and reduce pesticide use but research says otherwise. If farmers wanted to continue using GMOs to produce crops, labeling should be mandatory to allow consumers to have a conscious choice whether or not to eat GM food. Through research it has been proven that the use of GMOs to increased production of crops during a time of drought or disease have no benefits, just risks.
Nature practices diversity and for good reason. In nature and organic farming, if there is a threat to one species, there are others to balance the decrease in the threatened species. Conventional farmers and the modern food industry argue that planting the same crop year after year is convenient and profitable because it cuts down on the different types of farm equipment necessary in production, and initially, on the types of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers needed. However, in this unnatural environment, tremendous amounts of pesticides and fertilizers are needed to support crops as increased resistance occurs year after year (Pollan 72).... ...
Meanwhile, detrimental effects of GM seeds might outweigh their benefits. There is lack of researches that can gauge the long-term effects of GM seeds on humans and animals’ health. Critics blame glyphosate which is the main ingredient of Roundup herbicide for causing harm to farmers’ health and also the surroundings because of its lasting residues. In addition to the drawbacks of GM seeds, organic farmers stated that GM products will contaminate their conventional seeds and the combination between those seeds can create mutative one which poses a threat to the
The U.S. food and drug administration defines the term genetically modified organisms as "used by scientists to denote a living organism, that have been genetically modified, By inserting a gene from an unrelated species". In other words, they describe GMOs as an organism which has been inserted with a gene from an unrelated species. It is evident that the majority of American farmers utilize biotech seeds, because of the risks that the insect-resistant and herbicide-resistant traits help reduce. GMOs make the life of a farmer much easier as they do not have to worry about rushing to spray herbicides, keeping weeds out, or worrying about insects damaging crops and having to spray pesticides. For instance, Brian Scott, a farmer in Indiana, when corn root worms start indulging on his organic crops, the worms will cause significant damage before he can react accordingly and eliminate the problem with the use of chemicals.
The global population in the year 2050 is expected to be nine billion and the agricultural demand is expected to double. With the current population already over seven billion people, there are hunger issues all around the world (“New” par. 1). How are we going to deal with food shortages in the future? With less land to work with, strains on the soils, and the lack of water, it is getting harder for the farmers of the world to support our growing population. These complications are making it harder for farmers to produce quality, affordable food. To help the crops grow better, farmers use fertilizers and chemical sprays to enhance growth and control the weeds. Farming in the United States is a relevant business because it supplies people with food, provides people with jobs maintaining the used equipment with the new equipment being much more expensive, and it provides research for more efficient ways on how to feed the world.