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Author Topic:   Agent Orange Corn
fearandloathing
Member (Idle past 4144 days)
Posts: 990
From: Burlington, NC, USA
Joined: 02-24-2011


Message 30 of 47 (666437)
06-27-2012 10:58 AM
Reply to: Message 26 by herebedragons
06-27-2012 8:51 AM


Re: The Alternatives
That's the whole point though. They are genetically modifying these crops SO they can shower them with pesticides.
That's not exactly accurate.
quote:
Herbicide tolerance.
For some crops, it is not cost-effective to remove weeds by physical means such as tilling, so farmers will often spray large quantities of different herbicides (weed-killer) to destroy weeds, a time-consuming and expensive process, that requires care so that the herbicide doesn't harm the crop plant or the environment. Crop plants genetically-engineered to be resistant to one very powerful herbicide could help prevent environmental damage by reducing the amount of herbicides needed. For example, Monsanto has created a strain of soybeans genetically modified to be not affected by their herbicide product Roundup 6. A farmer grows these soybeans which then only require one application of weed-killer instead of multiple applications, reducing production cost and limiting the dangers of agricultural waste run-off7.
Source (seems like a fairly well balanced overveiw of GMOs here.)
Using one application of one herbicide makes sense to me.
Edited by fearandloathing, : No reason given.

A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.
― Edward R. Murrow
"You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them" - Ray Bradbury

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fearandloathing
Member (Idle past 4144 days)
Posts: 990
From: Burlington, NC, USA
Joined: 02-24-2011


Message 37 of 47 (666468)
06-27-2012 2:47 PM
Reply to: Message 36 by New Cat's Eye
06-27-2012 2:37 PM


Re: The Alternatives
The idea is to only have to spay one herbicide that is stronger once, instead of using multiple applications of several different ones.
See Message 30

A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.
― Edward R. Murrow
"You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them" - Ray Bradbury

This message is a reply to:
 Message 36 by New Cat's Eye, posted 06-27-2012 2:37 PM New Cat's Eye has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 38 by New Cat's Eye, posted 06-27-2012 2:52 PM fearandloathing has replied

  
fearandloathing
Member (Idle past 4144 days)
Posts: 990
From: Burlington, NC, USA
Joined: 02-24-2011


Message 41 of 47 (666473)
06-27-2012 3:23 PM
Reply to: Message 38 by New Cat's Eye
06-27-2012 2:52 PM


Re: The Alternatives
I think there may also be some confusion over pesticide resistant crops, I have not read anything about crops that are resistant to pesticides, just herbicides. Crops that produce their own pesticides are pest resistant, not pesticide resistant.
quote:
Insect resistance is achieved by incorporating into the food plant the gene for toxin production from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (BT). This toxin is currently used as a conventional insecticide in agriculture and is safe for human consumption. GM crops that permanently produce this toxin have been shown to require lower quantities of insecticides in specific situations, e.g. where pest pressure is high.
Virus resistance is achieved through the introduction of a gene from certain viruses which cause disease in plants. Virus resistance makes plants less susceptible to diseases caused by such viruses, resulting in higher crop yields.
Herbicide tolerance is achieved through the introduction of a gene from a bacterium conveying resistance to some herbicides. In situations where weed pressure is high, the use of such crops has resulted in a reduction in the quantity of the herbicides used.
Source

A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.
― Edward R. Murrow
"You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them" - Ray Bradbury

This message is a reply to:
 Message 38 by New Cat's Eye, posted 06-27-2012 2:52 PM New Cat's Eye has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 42 by New Cat's Eye, posted 06-27-2012 3:27 PM fearandloathing has replied

  
fearandloathing
Member (Idle past 4144 days)
Posts: 990
From: Burlington, NC, USA
Joined: 02-24-2011


(1)
Message 44 of 47 (666476)
06-27-2012 3:30 PM
Reply to: Message 42 by New Cat's Eye
06-27-2012 3:27 PM


Re: The Alternatives
Your right, I didn't realize this til I looked up the definition of pesticide, I was confusing it with insecticide.

A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.
― Edward R. Murrow
"You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them" - Ray Bradbury

This message is a reply to:
 Message 42 by New Cat's Eye, posted 06-27-2012 3:27 PM New Cat's Eye has seen this message but not replied

  
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