Edit in brackets is mine. Tom

Subj:         spread of weeds resistant to Monsanto's Roundup herbicide
Date:   02-09-10 01:28:55 EDT
From:   [log in to unmask] (Laurel Hopwood)
Sender: [log in to unmask] (Biotech Forum)
Reply-to:   [log in to unmask] (Biotech Forum)
To: [log in to unmask]

from Claire Robinson, GMWATCH editor
www.ngin.org.uk

23 August 2002
MONSANTO WOUND UP/ROUNDUP-RESISTANT WEEDS ADD TO MONSANTO'S QUOTIENT OF WOE
www.cropchoice.com
8/23/02
by Robert Schubert, CropChoice editor

Astoundingly, Monsanto continues to say that it's marketing
herbicide-resistant crops to help farmers and the environment.  But
reality, including a Tennessee weed problem, puts the lie to that.

By way of review, Monsanto claims that its Roundup Ready soybeans, corn,
cotton and canola -- genetically engineered to resist the Roundup weed
killer -- are good because farmers can spray just Roundup to kill weeds
without hurting the crops.  The end result is less herbicide usage and a
greener world.

If only it was true.

Consider:
Monsanto executives in July chalked up a portion of the company's financial
woes -- the stock had hit a 52-week low of about $13 a share, and still
hasn't much recovered following its spin-off from parent Pharmacia Corp. --
to lackluster Roundup sales in the spring.

Michael Doane, a Monsanto executive, said in a speech last year that the
company's cornerstone is not biotechnology.  It's the sale of Roundup. The
idea is for farmers to use lots of glyphosate (active ingredient in the
herbicide) over lots of acreage. See CropChoice story about this at
http://www.cropchoice.com/leadstry.asp?recid=751.

Farmers are doing just that.  But there are consequences.
University of Tennessee scientists have documented marestail weed
resistance to Roundup on hundreds of thousands of soybean and cotton acres
in the state.  As farmers have planted more and more Roundup Ready
varieties since 1996, they've been spraying more of the weed killer, not
less.  This has contributed to weeds developing resistance to Roundup.

Reports by the Canadian Wheat Board
(http://www.cropchoice.com/leadstry.asp?recid=772) and Dr. Charles Benbrook
(http://www.biotech-info.net/troubledtimes.html) document this.

Even Syngenta admits to the problem as it hawks an herbicide -- GramoxoneÆ
MAX -- that it says will complement Roundup.  According to its website
(http://www.syngentacropprotection-us.com/prod/herbicide/gramoxonemax/weedcam/

in
dex.asp?BnBts=609_button):
"It's the Achilles heel of every herbicide. It's weed resistance. If you
use an herbicide on a continuous basis, a weed population can build up
resistance to that compound and no longer be the effective tool it once
was.  Glyphosate herbicides are no exception to this rule of nature. And
the conditions for resistance are right, given the compoundís fast-growing
popularity as an over-the-top post-emergence herbicide in Roundup Ready
crop systems... Glyphosate herbicides are being used frequently and on many
acres... Weed resistance to glyphosate is more than theory. It's a real
on-farm problem... we demonstrate marestail resistance to glyphosate
herbicides and show how GramoxoneÆ MAX can not only control this weed but
also provide the foundation for an overall resistance management strategy."

This is among the challenges that face Monsanto and the entire
biotechnology industry.

Can Monsanto handle life without Pharmacia?  How will it react to farmer
and consumer rejection of the idea of Roundup Ready wheat?  How will it and
others cope with the technology being locked out of Europe and Brazil over
the next few years?

With the realization that capturing the hearts and dollars of farmers isn't
enough, the industry is rushing to develop products that it thinks will
appeal to consumers.  Those include plants with genes containing [producing]
vitamins and drugs.
Maybe Monsanto should shorten its independence and merge with Syngenta. To
persuade the farmers, they could engineer wheat, corn and other crops with
resistance to three, four or five herbicides -- a new one for each year
that weed resistance develops.  For those consumers, insert multi-vitamin
genes, maybe some gingko for peace of mind, a contraceptive and a
painkiller.

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