Tegen glyfosaat dat wordt toegepast om onkruid te bestrijden in de transgene soja van Monsanto, bouwen meer en meer onkruiden een zekere resistentie op. Deze resistente onkruiden verspreiden zich buiten de sojavelden, dus op akkers met andere teelten en ook in de vrije natuur, de Pampa. Herbiciden van een andere chemische verbinding dan glyfosaat worden nu op de sojavelden ingezet om het onkruid de baas te blijven. Dubbele kosten voor de boer. Glyfosaat (de merknaam van Monsanto is Roundup; het patent is echter verlopen) moet worden gebruikt terwijl de soja op de akker staat; een ander middel wordt toegepast als er geen sojagewas aanwezig is want soja is er niet tegen bestand.
Bij sommige maïssoorten doet zich hetzelfde probleem voor.

Monsanto is wel zo handig om ervoor te zorgen dat bij de nieuwere variëteiten de via gentechnologie ingebrachte eigenschappen degenereren. Bij de huidige RR-soja is dat niet het geval. Hier kan een boer onbeperkt geoogste sojabonen blijven zaaien zonder verlies aan glyfosaatresistentie. De meeste Argentijnse boeren betalen dan ook geen royalties aan Monsanto.

Het antwoord van Monsanto op de herbicideresistentie is teeltrotatie. Zie de tweede bijdrage.

I. Argentina Pampas Crops Threatened by Herbicide-Resistant Weed

BUENOS AIRES -(Dow Jones)- Glyphosate-resistant weeds have spread throughout much of Argentina’s Pampas, threatening to drive up the cost of growing soybeans and other crops genetically modified for resistance to the herbicide, Daniel Ploper, plant pathologist for the national food and animal health inspection service, or Senasa, in Tucuman Province said Wednesday.

”Isolated cases have been confirmed in Salta, Tucuman, Corrientes, Santiago del Estero, Cordoba and Santa Fe provinces,” Ploper said. The glyphosate- resistant weed, known as sorghum halepense, or ”Johnson Grass,” had previously been confirmed only in Salta and Tucuman provinces.

The government has launched a number of projects to control the spread of the weed, including the use of herbicides other than glyphosate and attempting to mandate cleaning of harvest machinery to prevent spreading the weed between fields, Ploper said.

In addition, Cordoba province Congressman Alberto Cantero introduced a bill this week aimed at eradicating the glyphosate-resistant weed.

Last year, some 120,000 hectares were affected by the resistant weed, according to Cantero. ”The invasion is developing rapidly and we are possibly in the beginning phases of the (widespread presence) of this plague,” Cantero said in the bill.

The spread of the resistant Johnson Grass could increase agricultural production costs by 500 million to 3 billion Argentine pesos ($160-$950 million) per year, according to Cantero. Combatting the strain will require the use of 25 million liters of herbicides other that glyphosate each year, he said.

”This could double herbicide costs in the effected areas,” Senasa’s Ploper said.

Around 98% of Argentina’s soy crop comes from seeds developed by U.S. biotech giant Monsanto Company (MON). The soybeans have been genetically modified to resist the herbicide Roundup, generically known as glyphosate. The herbicide is applied to eliminate competing plant species and thus increase output per hectare.

In addition, at the end of August the government approved Monsanto’s bundled MG and RR2 transgenic corn seed variety for planting in the 2007-08 season. The seeds are genetically modified to produce a substance toxic to corn borer parasites and for glyphosate resistance.

Monsanto has a small amount of the seeds ready for this year’s crop, which will be used to test the technology, Monsanto Argentina spokesman Federico Ovejero said.

The company claims the new variety may boost corn yields by 5-7%. The seeds are expected to be widely used across the Pampas, further adding to the country’s heavy reliance on glyphosate.

Monsanto’s shares hit an all-time high Wednesday after a top executive said that within the next decade, the agriculture and biotechnology giant could triple the number of acres outside the U.S. being planted with its genetically engineered seeds.

”Strong global adoption of our proven traits coupled with recent approvals paves the way for expanded growth and sets the stage for new growth, as we look to stack and upgrade these products in the coming years,” said Brett Begemann, executive vice president of Monsanto’s global commercial business.

Argentina figures big in those plans, despite a bitter conflict over royalty fees. The company has been struggling for years to collect royalties on soybean seeds containing its gene for glyphosate resistance, which it introduced in 1996. However, the company has been unable to obtain a patent on the seeds or collect royalties from the majority of farmers.

The company has vowed not to make the same mistake with its second generation of Roundup Ready soybeans, which are easily held over and replanted. Transgenic corn seeds tend to lose their traits through the generations, ensuring that farmers will return to the company for seed supplies.

Only the U.S. produces more genetically modified crops than the South American country. Argentina has more than 17 million hectares dedicated to the production of transgenic crops, according to the International Service for the Acquisition Agri-Biotech Applications, or Isaaa, a non-governmental organization dedicated to the promotion of agricultural biotechnology.

After their introduction, Monsanto’s beans quickly came to dominate Argentina’s crop as they allowed more no-till farming, thus conserving topsoil and moisture and boosting yields. The country is now the world’s third-ranked soybean producer and exporter and the leading soymeal and soyoil exporter.

However, there are concerns that other weed varieties resistant to glyphosate will develop due to the repeated use of the herbicide across Argentina’s Pampas each season.

”We were actually surprised that it took so long (for the resistant Johnson Grass) to appear,” Ploper said.

Signs of glyphosate-resistant sorghum halepense were first detected in 2004, according to the Argentine Fertilizer and Agrochemical Industry Chamber, or CIAFA.

The glyphosate-resistant strain developed through the process of natural selection following years of glyphosate spraying, according to Armando Allinghi, agricultural engineer at CIAFA.

Sorghum halepense may have originated in the Mediterranean area. The plant is known as ”Johnson Grass” in the U.S., named after Col. William Johnson, who introduced it to Alabama in the 1840s for use as animal feed. It was introduced to Argentina for the same reasons and rapidly became a pest as took to the Pampas with a vengeance.

”It is one of the worst weeds ... (affecting) ... the subtropics throughout the world,” according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N.

SOURCE: CNN Money, USA; Sept. 26, 2007
AUTHOR: Dow Jones Newswires, USA, by Shane Romig
URL: http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200709261554DOWJONESDJONLINE000700_FORTUNE5.htm

II. Monsanto’s Responses to Questions Raised and Statements Made by Environmental/Consumer Groups and Other Critics of Biotechnology and Roundup Ready® Soybeans

Introduction

A few environmental groups and anti-biotechnology activists have raised a number of questions about Roundup Ready soybeans, glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup® brand herbicides) and the regulatory systems that have approved and registered their use. To set the record straight and provide facts for interested people around the world, we examine the critic’s statements one by one, in many cases responding to their language, for proper context.

Critic’s Statement: Monsanto also claims that glyphosate is considered to be a herbicide with low risk for weed resistance. However, Monsanto itself notes that one important factor contributing to resistant weeds is frequent applications without crop or herbicide rotations. Yet no-till, single-herbicide monoculture is precisely what Roundup Ready soybeans are meant to encourage.

- There has not been a verified case of weed resistance developing in the field as a result of Roundup being sprayed. Monsanto receives reports occasionally that speculate on resistance, and we always follow-up to understand any new developments. The mode of action unique to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, plus the herbicide’s lack of soil residual activity, have made it unlikely that resistant plants will appear over time in a weed population.

- Although Monsanto does promote a no-till system to be used in conjunction with Roundup herbicide and Roundup Ready crops, this system is meant to conserve soil moisture and topsoil, an agronomic benefit that exists outside of Roundup Ready crops and their use.

- In fact, Monsanto supplies much grower information to those farmers who purchase Roundup Ready soybeans and other modified crops. This information includes recommendations for crop rotation sequences (not monoculture), and it also provides guidelines for managing any Roundup Ready volunteers in following crops.

- The need to manage crop rotations, soil tillage, and herbicide rotations is no different with Roundup Ready crops than with any other crops. Farmers are accustomed to minimum-tillage and soil-conservation practices which involve crop rotations. These rotations are no less necessary with Roundup Ready crops and Monsanto will recommend continuation of these practices with Roundup Ready and other modified crops.

http://web.archive.org/web/20000816095625/http://www.monsanto/mediacenter/background/97apr21_Responses.html

SOURCE: Monsanto, USA
DATE: 21.04.1997
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GENET, Sept 28, 2007