USA:
GE crops not better or safer

Genetically engineered foodcrops, a crude attempt by 
transnational agri-business and biotechnology concerns to gain 
control of world food production, have received a jolt from the 
US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

New research by USDA scientists shows that GE crops do not 
produce higher yields or result in reduced pesticide use, as 
claimed by the biotech industry.

US experts studied GE soy, corn, and cotton across huge tracts of 
the US farming belt, where both GE and non-GE varieties were 
being grown. The researchers found no increase in yields from GE 
crops in two thirds of the areas.

In some areas, yields from GE varieties were significantly lower 
than conventional varieties. Nor did the researchers find 
significant reductions in pesticide use in areas growing GE 
varieties.

In fact, farmers growing Roundup Ready (herbicide-resistant) 
soybeans used two to five times more herbicide per acre, compared 
to the other popular weed management systems with non-GE 
soybeans.

Roundup, the popular brandname for glyphosate, is the world's 
most widely used herbicide. Seventy-one percent of biotech crops 
planted in 1998 (including biotech soy, canola, and corn) were 
genetically engineered to be resistant to glyphosate or other 
herbicides.

Herbicide resistant crops allow increased use of these toxic 
chemicals to kill weeds. A study published in the Journal of 
the American Cancer Society on March 15, 1999, linked 
exposure to glyphosate with increased risk of non-Hodgkin's 
lymphoma, a form of cancer.

The US research would seem to shoot down arguments that GE or so-
called Frankenstein foods could help stop hunger in the Third 
World, or are more environmentally friendly.

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