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Answers

Question

Havent the farm practices monoculture, use of nicotininoids as pesticide used in production of GMOs and massive agricultural conglomerates been proven unsustainable means of production and harmful to the environment?

Submitted by: yanere


Answer

Expert response from Iain Kelley

Director, Regulatory Policy and Issue Management, Bayer Crop Science

Friday, 05/06/2015 14:11

In short, no. There are many sustainable ways that neonicotinoids and other technologies can be used. The technologies that have been used have been thoroughly tested to make them acceptable and adaptable for the environment.

 

I have addressed this topic in a similar question here.

“As the need for increased food production without increasing land use becomes critical, both GMOs and neonicotinoid seed treatments become complementary and responsible solutions to achieve this. By either incorporating the technology into the seed (GMO) or firmly attaching the insecticide to the seed (seed treatment), these technologies provide highly effective crop protection by targeting the activity where it is needed, thus reducing potential exposure to workers and reducing the  overall amount of insecticide applied in the environment (see www.growingmatters.org).”