FRANKENSOY REQUIRES MORE HERBICIDES

(ENS)-Reliance on the Monsanto herbicide Roundup to kill weeds in fields of genetically engineered Roundup Ready soybeans has led to increased herbicide use because the weeds have become herbicide resistant, according to a recent study. The report, �Troubled Times Amid Commercial Success for Roundup Ready Soybeans,� relies on data from the Department of Agriculture that says that on average 11.4 percent more herbicides are used on Monsanto�s Roundup Ready (RR) soybean crops, than on conventional soybeans. In some cases, 30 percent more herbicides were used.

Dr. Charles Benbrook of the Northwest Science and Environmental Policy Center in Sandpoint, Idaho, says that contrary to the promises of Monsanto that growing its genetically engineered variety of Roundup Ready soybeans would put fewer pesticides into the environment, farmers are applying more herbicides to Roundup Ready soybean plants to combat weeds. Roundup Ready crops allow farmers to spray a single broad spectrum herbicide active ingredient, glyphosate, on top of growing soybeans, killing most weeds but leaving the Roundup Ready soybeans largely unharmed. American farmers have planted 60 percent of this year�s soybean crop, roughly 40 million acres, with bioengineered Roundup Ready seeds, according to Monsanto. �This study confirms that genetic engineering of farm crops means more chemicals in our environment,� says Greenpeace genetic engineering campaigner Geert Ritsema. The report, �Troubled Times Amid Commercial Success for Roundup Ready Soybeans,� is at www.biotech-info.net/troubled times.html.