| | 14/March/20
| | GM cotton no match for insects in India, long-term analysis shows In India, Bt cotton is the most widely planted cotton crop by acreage, and it is hugely controversial. Supporters long touted increased yields and reduced pesticides to justify its pickup. But that argument does not hold up under the first long-term study of Bt cotton impacts in India. The study found that with Bt resistance occurring in one pest and surging populations of non-target pests, farmers now spend more on pesticides today than before the introduction of Bt cotton. Phys.org; comment by GMWatch Revealed: Monsanto’s secret funding for weedkiller studies Monsanto secretly funded academic studies indicating “very severe impacts” on farming and the environment if its controversial weedkiller glyphosate were banned, an investigation has found. The research was used by the National Farmers’ Union and others to successfully lobby against a European ban in 2017. As a result of the revelations the NFU has now amended its glyphosate information to declare the source of the research. Monsanto was bought by agri-chemical giant Bayer in 2018 and Bayer said the studies’ failure to disclose their funding broke its principles. The Guardian US Federal watchdog eyes dicamba weedkiller The inspector general of the EPA is planning to look into whether EPA acted properly when it registered dicamba in 2016 and 2018, as well as review states' labelling used for dicamba in recent years. The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) functions as an internal government watchdog for all the major federal and state agencies. The purpose of the investigation will be to "determine whether the EPA adheres to federal requirements and scientifically sound principles for the 2016 registration and 2018 renewal for the new uses of the dicamba herbicide," according to the OIG. Dicamba herbicides, used on GM dicamba-tolerant crops, have come under fire since their release in 2017 for widespread claims of off-target injury to sensitive crops. DTN Progressive Farmer Non-GMO agroecological banana not the product of nuke program Earlier this month GMWatch published a story reporting that in spite of decades of pro-GMO hype telling us that only GM will save the banana from going extinct due to attack from Black Sigatoka disease, it is non-GMO breeding that has succeeded in producing a variety that is resistant to the fungus. The new variety of banana, named the Pointe d'Or, can be produced using organic and agroecological production methods. However, a commentator responded by claiming on Twitter that the Pointe d'Or banana was produced using random mutagenesis involving radiation. GMWatch checked out his claim and found it to be false. GMWatch UK: House of Lords debate on genome editing staggeringly ill-informed Recently the House of Lords "debated" how the UK might regulate genome edited foods post-Brexit. However, the level of debate demonstrated a staggering lack of understanding of genetic engineering, and of new genome-editing techniques in particular. Genome editing was described as something that “merely escalates a natural process” and new genetic engineering technologies were casually lumped together with conventional breeding and natural processes – a tactic the biotech industry sometimes uses to blur any distinction between these and thereby avoid any complicated questions around GE’s use and/or regulation. Beyond GM UN under fire over choice of "corporate puppet" as envoy at key food summit A global summit on food security is at risk of being dominated by big business at the expense of farmers and social movements, according to the UN’s former food expert. Olivier De Schutter, the former UN special rapporteur on the right to food, said food security groups around the world had expressed misgivings about the UN food systems summit, which is due to take place in 2021 and could be crucial to making agriculture more sustainable. His comments followed protests last month over the announcement that Agnes Kalibata, the former Rwandan minister for agriculture, would lead the event, despite her role as president of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (Agra), which has been accused of promoting damaging, business-focused practices. De Schutter emphasised that his comments were not directed at Kalibata personally. The Guardian DONATE TO GMWATCH __________________________________________________________ Website: http://www.gmwatch.org
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