Reuters / April 14, 2000
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy, a non-profit organization which receives some funding from agribusiness industries, was cited as finding in a new report that genetically altered Roundup Ready soybeans produce about the same yield and require the same overall volume of chemicals to kill weeds as traditional varieties but save farmers about $220 million annually in cheaper chemical costs, according to a study released on Friday (the full report is available at http://www.ncfap.org/soy85.pdf).
The story says that advocates of genetically altered crops contend their benefits have been ignored in the growing U.S. debate over the long-term impact of biofoods on health and the environment. The new study found Roundup Ready soybeans offered several advantages to farmers, including easier weed management, less injury to crops, no restrictions on crop rotations, and cheaper costs.
Leonard Gianessi, a member of the center who co-authored the report, was quoted as saying, "Yields are about the same, pounds (of herbicides) on the ground are about the same. It's the other issues we're looking at that make a difference."
U.S. farmers using Roundup Ready soybeans saved an estimated $220 million in 1998 due to lower herbicide costs, he said. That cost savings included the average $6 per acre "technology fee" charged by makers of the biotech seeds.
Fields planted with Roundup Ready soybeans typically required fewer applications of a single herbicide, glyphosate. Conventional varieties of soybeans needed several applications of various chemicals designed to kill cocklebur, jimsonweed, foxtail, ragweed, pigweed and other weeds. Gianessi was further quoted as saying, "The broad spectrum of weeds controlled by glyphosate means that soybean growers no longer need to make as many multiple applications with combinations of herbicides."
A University of Wisconsin agronomist recently reported Roundup Ready soybeans had a 4 percent lower yield than traditional varieties, based on 3,000 samples from eight states in 1998. Monsanto Co., which developed Roundup Ready soybeans, says its studies show an increased yield of about 4.5 bushels per acre. But Minnesota researchers concluded that yields of Roundup Ready soybeans were equal to those of traditional varieties.
Gianessi said his group has also launched an analysis of the risks of transgenic crops, based on studies by other researchers. That report, like the one released on Friday, will be underwritten by the Rockefeller Foundation.
(posted without permission)
