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Question

It seems to me that GMO technology and the companies that developed it, accomplished what the public wanted in reducing the use of pesticides. Now public opinion seems to have changed, but do these anti-gmo people, whomever they may be, support a return to conventional agriculture? Do you have statistics showing how much pesticide use has declined with GMO technology?

Submitted by: jthompson


Answer

Expert response from Community Manager

Moderator for GMOAnswers.com

Tuesday, 06/05/2014 15:44

Pesticide use with GM crops is a common topic on GMO Answers. We do have statistics about the overall reduction of pesticide applications, and we’d like to share a few related posts with you. Jim Gaffney, strategy lead for biotech affairs and regulatory at DuPont Pioneer, talks about pesticide reductions reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in this response.  Also, in another post, Graham Brookes, an agricultural economist with PG Economics Ltd., UK, thoroughly discusses the reduction in environmental impact associated with insecticide and herbicide use on GM crops. He explains that “between 1996 and 2011, the use of insecticides on [GM] crops in the countries using the technology has fallen by nearly 240 million kg of insecticide active ingredient.”

Some people claim that herbicide-tolerant GM technology is responsible for herbicide-resistant weeds, but Brookes points out that “reports of herbicide-resistant weeds predate the use of GM herbicide-tolerant crops by decades,” and that “the development of weeds resistant to herbicides is therefore a problem faced by all farmers,” not just those planting GM seeds. 

Finally, GM technology has contributed to a 379-million-pound reduction in pesticide applications in the U.S. from 1996 to 2009, which has saved farmers time and money while reducing their environmental footprint.

If you have any additional questions, please let us know.