Amaranth against Monsanto
Monsanto boomerang effect
In the United States, five thousand hectares of transgenic soybean crops have been abandoned by farmers and another fifty thousand are seriously threatened. This panic is due to a "weed" that decided to oppose the giant Monsanto, known to be the largest predator on Earth. Insolent, this mutant plant proliferates and challenges Roundup, the total herbicide based on glyphosphate, which no “weed can resist”.
When nature takes over.
It was in 2004 that a farmer from Macon, Georgia, a town about 130 kilometers from Atlanta, noticed that some amaranth shoots were resistant to the Roundup with which he watered his soybean crops.
Fields affected by this invasive weed have been sown with Roundup Ready seeds, which contain seed that has received a Roundup resistance gene that no “weed can resist”.
Since that time, the situation has worsened and the phenomenon has spread to other states, South Carolina, and North, Arkansas, Tennessee and Missouri. According to a group of scientists from the Center for Ecology and Hydrology, a British organization located in Winfrith, Dorset, there has been a transfer of genes between the GMO plant and certain unwanted herbs, such as amaranth. This finding contradicts the peremptory and optimistic assertions of defenders of GMOs who claimed and persist in asserting that hybridization between a genetically modified plant and an unmodified plant is quite simply "impossible".
For the British geneticist Brian Johnson, who specializes in problems linked to agriculture: “It only takes one successful crossing on several million possibilities. As soon as it is created, the new plant has a huge selective advantage, and it multiplies quickly. The powerful herbicide used here, based on glyphosphate and ammonium, put enormous pressure on the plants, which further increased the rate of adaptation. ” Thus, a gene for resistance to herbicides has, it seems, given birth to a hybrid plant resulting from a jump between the seed which it is supposed to protect and the amaranth, become impossible to eliminate.
The only solution is to pull the weeds by hand, as was done in the past, but this is not always possible given the size of the crops. In addition, these deeply rooted herbs are very difficult to uproot and 5 hectares have simply been abandoned.
Many growers plan to give up GMOs and return to traditional farming, especially since GMO plants are becoming more and more expensive and profitability is essential for this type of farming. Alan Rowland, producer and trader of soybean seeds in Dudley, Missouri, says that no one is asking him for Monsanto seeds of the Roundup Ready type while recently, this sector represented 80% of his trade. Today, GMO seeds have disappeared from its catalog and the demand for traditional seeds is constantly increasing.
Already, on July 25, 2005, The Guardian published an article by Paul Brown which revealed that modified cereal genes had transited towards wild plants, thus creating a "supergraine" resistant to herbicides, an "inconceivable" crossing by scientists from the Department of the environment. Since 2008, the agricultural media in the United States has been reporting more and more cases of resistance, and the United States government has made major budget cuts which have forced the Department of Agriculture to reduce and then stop some of its activities.
Devilish or sacred plant
It is funny to note that this plant, "devilish" in the eyes of genetic farming, is a sacred plant for the Incas. It is one of the oldest foods in the world. Each plant produces an average of 12 seeds per year, and the leaves, which are richer in protein than soy, contain vitamins A and C and mineral salts.
Thus this boomerang, returned by nature to Monsanto, not only neutralizes this predator, but installs in places a plant that can feed humanity in the event of famine. It supports most climates, both dry regions, monsoon areas and tropical highlands and has no problems with insects or disease, so will never need chemicals.
Thus, "the arrowroot" confronts the very powerful Monsanto, as David opposed Goliath. And everyone knows how the fight ended, however uneven! If these phenomena are reproduced in sufficient quantity, which seems programmed, Monsanto will soon only have to close the door. Apart from its employees, who will really complain about this funeral enterprise?
Sylvie SIMON (Your Health)
Source: http://www.buvettedesalpages.be/2009/06 ... santo.html
: THE ECONOLOGY ASSOCIATION
