USFRA responds to: It’s Been Said: GMOs don’t actually decrease pesticide use, they increase it

More than a year ago, Virginia Farm Bureau joined the United States Farmers and Ranchers Alliance, agricultural groups at the national, regional and state levels that have collaborated to lead the dialogue and answer Americans’ questions about agriculture and how we raise our food. On their Web site, www.fooddialogues.com, they respond to questions from readers as well as articles from publications that may contain some misinformation about agriculture.

Recently, they responded to an article that appeared in the Huffington Post about GMOs and pesticides. Here is an excerpt from the article:

University of Washington agricultural scientist Charles Benbrook recently looked at the rate of pesticide use in the age of genetically engineered seeds, or GMOs. Benbrook’s results undercut one of the main arguments in favor of this technology — the idea that they have significantly brought down pesticide use. According to Benbrook’s analysis, since their introduction in the 1990s, pesticide use for commodity crops like corn and soy has actually increased by approximately 7 percent.

Benbrook claims that Monsanto and its herbicide-resistant RoundUp Ready product line — seeds engineered to withstand the herbicide RoundUp — had the opposite effect, encouraging farmers to use a single pesticide, ultimately to excess.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/04/pesticides-gmo-monsanto-roundup-resistance_n_1936598.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular