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Land
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Presentation Summary
Lac Courte Oreilles Casino and Convention Center
Oct 3-4, 2002
GMOs and the Changing Use of Pesticides
Chris Boerboom
Professor of Agronomy and Extension Weed Scientist
University of Wisconsin-Madison/Extension
The first major use of genetic engineering in plants focused on providing alternative methods of crop protection. Principally, the genetically engineered crops either produce a pesticide to protect the crop from insect pests (Bt corn) or make the crop resistant to an herbicide (Roundup Ready soybean and corn or Liberty Link corn). These GMO crops offer certain advantages, such as improved pest control, reduced crop injury and convenience. However, their use may increase costs, affect nontarget organisms and limit yield. With the availability of these GMO crops, some have argued that their adoption will lessen the use of pesticides or allow the use of environmental-friendly pesticides. Others suggest that GMO crops will increase pesticide use because the crop is herbicide resistant. This presentation will evaluate the effect that GMO crop adoption has had on actual pesticide use, which depends upon how the data is interpreted. Current GMO crop technology does not eliminate a growers use of pesticides. As a result, there is selection pressure for pests to develop resistance to the pesticide that is used in the GMO crop. Frequent use of this technology without adequate resistance management will lead to pest resistance, which may limit the long-term benefi ts of the technology. Specifi c examples of herbicide-resistant weeds and the current status of glyphosate (Roundup)-resistance will be discussed.
References:
  • Herbicide-Resistant Crops: Agricultural, Environmental, Economic, Regulatory, and Technical Aspects. S. O Duke. 1996. CRC Press.
  • Heap, I. The International Survey of Herbicide Resistant Weeds. http://www.weedscience.com/
  • Council for Agricultural Science and Technology. Comparative Environmental Impacts of Biotechnology-derived
  • Traditional Soybean, Corn, and Cotton Crops. 2002. http://www.cast-science.org/
  • National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy. Biotechnology Assessment Program. http://www.ncfap.org/biotech.htm
From The University of Wisconsin-Madison/Extension
Sponsored by a grant from USDA/CSREES/IFAFS
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Last updated September 26, 2002
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