ISIS Report 11/12/03
GM Crops Increase Pesticide Use
Proponents claim that GM crops substantially reduce pesticide use,
but new evidence shows otherwise. Lim Li
Ching reports.
A new report from Dr. Charles Benbrook, director of the Northwest
Science and Environmental Policy Center, Idaho, concludes that the 550 million
acres of GM corn, soybeans and cotton planted in the US since 1996 has
increased pesticide use (herbicides and insecticides) by about 50 million
pounds. Benbrook is a respected agricultural economist and was Executive
Director of the US National Academy of Sciences Board on Agriculture from 1984
to 1990.
The report is the first comprehensive study of the impact of all major
commercial GM crops on pesticide use in the US over the first eight years of
commercial use, 1996-2003. Most studies to date have only focused on the first
three years of GM crop adoption (1996-1998), and no study has estimated impacts
in 2002 and 2003.
Benbrook draws on official US Department of Agriculture (USDA) data on
pesticide use by crop and state to calculate the overall impact of GM crops on
the volume of pesticides applied on corn, soybean and cotton. These three crops
account for nearly all the area planted to GM crops in the US. The analysis
focuses on herbicide tolerant (HT) corn, soybeans and cotton; and corn and
cotton genetically engineered to produce the natural insecticide Bacillus
thuringiensis (Bt).
HT crops allow broad-spectrum herbicides to be sprayed over growing
plants, controlling weeds while leaving crops unharmed, making them popular
with farmers. Despite increased seed prices, HT systems have become less
expensive, largely because the price of herbicides containing glyphosate
(Roundup) has fallen by half since HT crops were first introduced. (Crops
tolerant to glyphosate - known as Roundup Ready varieties - are the largest
share of acreage planted to HT crops).
But the fall in price has meant farmers can spray more herbicides
without feeling the economic pinch. In particular, farmers are spraying
substantially more herbicides on HT soybean. Soybean accounts for about 75% of
the 400 million acres of HT crops and 54% of all GM acres that have been
planted since 1996. While total pounds of pesticides applied to Bt corn and
cotton have fallen modestly (see later), the increase in herbicides applied on
HT soybeans has been far greater. This, combined with the dominance of HT
soybean, has led to dramatic change in overall impact of GM crops on pesticide
use.
Benbrook calculates the difference between the average pounds of
pesticides applied on acres planted to GM crops, compared to the pounds applied
to otherwise similar conventional crops. In their first three years of
commercial sale (1996-1998), GM crops reduced pesticide use by about 25.4
million pounds, but in the last three years (2001-2003), over 73 million more
pounds of pesticides were applied on GM acres.
The increase in overall pounds of pesticides applied across the three
crops is due mainly to the need to apply more herbicides per acre planted to HT
soybeans. USDA data show a marked increase in the per acre rate of glyphosate
applied to HT soybeans between 2001 and 2002 – about a 22% increase, from
0.85 pounds per acre to 1.04 pounds.
This 22% jump was caused by a major price reduction in glyphosate, the
need to control more difficult weeds, and the emergence of resistance and/or
lessened sensitivity in weed species that were once fully controlled by one
glyphosate application. So for HT soybeans, the difference in average herbicide
pounds applied per acre between GM and conventional crops shifted from a
reduction of 0.36 pounds per acre in 1996 to an increase of 0.47 pounds per
acre in 2003.
Pesticide use estimates for 2003 in the report are preliminary, since
USDA will not release these data until May 2004. However, estimates for 2003
are based on 2002 levels and trends in recent years. Benbrook is of no doubt
that average glyphosate application rates per acre of HT soybeans continued
rising in 2003 due to:
- Spread of glyphosate-tolerant marestail (horseweed);
- Shifts in composition of weed communities toward species not as
sensitive to glyphosate;
- Early-stage resistance in some major weeds; and
- Substantial price reductions and volume-based marketing incentives
from competing manufacturers of glyphosate-based herbicides.
HT corn technology reduced herbicide use per acre from 1996 through
2001, but increased use thereafter. The difference in average herbicide pounds
applied per acre between GM and conventional crops shifted from a reduction of
0.8 pounds per acre in 1996 to an increase of 0.58 pounds per acre in 2003, due
to:
- Increases in the rate of glyphosate applied per acre driven largely
by shifts in weed communities, resistance, changes in tillage and planting
systems, and significant reductions in the price of herbicides containing
glyphosate;
- Incremental increases in reliance of farmers on herbicides other than
glyphosate to assure season-long control of grasses in HT corn; and
- Downward trend in average rate of application of herbicides on non-HT
acres.
The difference in herbicide application rates on HT and conventional
cotton changed much like that of HT corn and soybeans, shifting from a
reduction of 0.64 pounds per acre in 1996 to an increase of 0.17 pounds per
acre in 2003.
The report acknowledges that the other major category of GM crops –
Bt corn and cotton – continues to reduce insecticide use by 2 million to
2.5 million pounds annually. The reduction in insecticide pounds applied per
acre planted to Bt corn and cotton ranges from 0.33 pounds in 1996 to 0.06
pounds in 2003, and from 0.38 pounds in 1996 to 0.2 pounds in 2001-2003,
respectively.
However, the increase in herbicide use on HT crops far exceeds the
modest reductions in insecticide use on Bt crops, especially since 2001. The
calculations also don’t take into account the volume of Bt toxin that is
continuously expressed in the Bt crops’ plant cells. This amount is
significant compared to the rates of application in today’s low-dose
pesticides.
In short, over the last eight years, HT crops have increased pesticide
use an estimated 70.2 million pounds, while Bt transgenic varieties have
reduced pesticide use an estimated 19.6 million pounds. Thus, total pesticide
use has risen some 50.6 million pounds over the eight-year period.
The increase in pesticide use, largely due to increased use in HT crops,
especially HT soybean, is of no surprise, given that scientists had warned that
heavy reliance on HT crops and a single herbicide (in this case, glyphosate)
for weed management might lead to changes in weed communities and resistance.
This triggers the need to apply additional herbicides and/or increase
application rates to achieve the same level of weed control.
Many farmers have had to spray more herbicides on GM acres in order to
keep up with shifts in weeds toward tougher-to-control species, coupled with
the emergence of genetic resistance in certain weed populations.
"For years weed scientists have warned that heavy reliance on herbicide
tolerant crops would trigger ecological changes in farm fields that would
incrementally erode the technology’s effectiveness. It now appears that
this process began in 2001 in the United States in the case of herbicide
tolerant crops," said Benbrook.
According to Prof. Bob Hartzler, an extension weed management specialist
from Iowa State University, glyphosate-resistant marestail in Roundup Ready
soybeans first appeared in Delaware in 2000, spreading since as far west as
Indiana, and identified in the Southeastern US where Roundup Ready cotton is
grown. Other records of glyphosate- resistant weeds (not necessarily linked to
HT crops) are rigid ryegrass in an orchard in Australia and in wheat production
systems in Australia and California, Italian ryegrass in Chile and goosegrass
in Malaysia.
Furthermore, waterhemp populations with individuals capable of surviving
‘normal’ user rates were identified in Iowa and Missouri the first
year Roundup Ready soybeans were marketed. While Hartzler doesn’t think
that waterhemp can as yet be considered glyphosate resistant, the potential
exists and should be closely monitored.
Since the first report of glyphosate resistant rigid ryegrass in 1996,
four additional resistant species with this trait have been identified.
According to Harztler, this rate of development suggests that new resistant
biotypes will continue to arise.
Prospects for GM crops leading to reduced pesticide use in the long-term
don’t bode well either. The pounds of herbicides required to achieve
acceptable weed control is rising on most farms planting HT varieties, compared
to the rates of application common between 1996-1998. In contrast, the amount
of herbicides and insecticides applied per acre on conventional farms continue
to trend downward as a result of incremental shifts toward newer low-dose
pesticides and regulatory restrictions phasing out high-dose herbicides.
As a result, the difference in total pounds of herbicides applied on HT
versus conventional acres has increased steadily since 2000. Given the
emergence and spread of weeds resistant or less sensitive to glyphosate, this
difference is likely to widen further if HT technology continues to be relied
on as heavily as in recent years.
Sources:
Benbrook CM (2003) Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops on
Pesticide Use in the United States: The First Eight Years, BioTech InfoNet,
Technical Paper No 6, Nov 2003,
http://wwww.biotech-info.net/technicalpaper6.html
Hartzler B ‘Are Roundup Ready weeds in your future II’,
Submission to UK GM Science Review, 28 February 2003,
http://www.gmsciencedebate.org.uk/topics/forum/0051.htm
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