Another step on the transgene-facilitated herbicide treadmill.

David A Mortensen, Matthew R Ryan, Richard G Smith

Journal: Pest management science 2024;80(9):4145-4149

PMID: 38527910

Abstract

Transgenic, dicamba-resistant soybean and cotton were developed to enable farmers to combat weeds that had evolved resistance to the herbicide glyphosate. The dramatic increases in dicamba use these crops facilitated have led to serious problems, including the evolution of dicamba-resistant weeds and widespread damage to susceptible crops and farming communities. Disturbingly, this pattern of dicamba use has unfolded while the total herbicide applied to soybean has nearly doubled since 2006. Without substantive changes to agricultural policy and decision making, the next 'silver-bullet' agrotechnology will likely be no more than another step on the transgene-facilitated herbicide treadmill. © 2024 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Address: Department of Agriculture, Nutrition, and Food Systems, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA.; School of Integrative Plant Science-Soil and Crop Sciences Section, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.; Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA.

DOI: 10.1002/ps.8105

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https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.8105

MeSH Terms: Herbicides, Herbicide Resistance, Plants, Genetically Modified, Glycine max, Glyphosate, Plant Weeds, Transgenes, Dicamba, Weed Control, Gossypium, Glycine, Crops, Agricultural