In William Neuman and Andrew Pollack’s “Farmers Cope With Roundup-Resistant Weeds,” in May 3, 2010’s New York Times, the frightening report on the effects of genetically engineered crops revealed a big problem for farmers. Apparently the genetically engineered crops were created to withstand the chemicals like the ones found in Roundup and other similar weed killers. Due to the fact that these plants could tolerate the harmful chemicals, farmers used generous amounts to prevent weeds in their fields. This worked great for a while as it reduced erosion from tilling, produced more crops and lowered the overall costs for farmers. Unfortunately, the weeds have evolved quickly to tolerate the chemicals and so the expensive engineered seeds are not worth the price and farmers are being forced to go back to the old ways of farming.
I feel that while the use of genetically engineered crops has its benefits, the problems that follow are not worth their use. While older farming techniques are less efficient, they never created super weeds that could take down super plants.
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This is an interesting article that is quite surprising. Weeds are evolving to be able to survive a chemical that was specifically made to destroy them. Who knew weeds can develop so fast? This may be negative for farmers but it may be good for our crops. All the chemicals in Roundup and other weed killers can no longer get into the crops, making our food healthier.
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