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Issue: Herbicide Resistant Crops
Possibly Becoming Weeds in Following Years
One environmental and agronomic issue associated
with transgenic crops that have been developed to be resistant to
insecticides is that seeds left behind after harvest may sprout
and become weeds the following years. For example, if a farmer uses Roundup
Ready™ corn one year then Roundup Ready™ soybeans the next year, the Roundup
herbicide will not control volunteer corn that is Roundup Ready™. As more
crops are developed that are resistant to the same herbicides, this will
become more problematic.
While this is true that if producers rotated
among crops with the same type of herbicide tolerance that the volunteers
from previous crops would become weeds, relying solely on a single type
of herbicide year after year generally is not a good idea. Whether or
not multiple crops are tolerant of the same herbicide, relying exclusively
on the same herbicide for a long period of time will select for weeds
as well as volunteers that tolerate the herbicide. With the example of
Roundup Ready™ corn one year then Roundup Ready™ soybeans the next year,
there are many available herbicides that can control Roundup Ready™ corn
in Roundup Ready™ soybeans and visa versa.
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