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ISIS Report 19/05/10
Scientists Reveal Glyphosate Poisons Crops and Soil########################################
GM Meltdown Continues
Scientists go public on devastating ecological impacts of Roundup Ready cropping
systems while USDA keeps mum. Dr. Mae-Wan Ho
Dire consequences from the most widely used herbicide in the world
Glyphosate-tolerant (GT) crops have spread rapidly around the world since they
were introduced in the US in 1996, and are now planted on 85 percent of the
global area growing genetically modified (GM) crops. Concomitantly,
glyphosate (commercial formulation Roundup), promoted as safe for health and the
environment, became the most widely used herbicide in the world.
But ecological and health impacts of the GT cropping system soon came to light,
and have been worsening relentlessly over the years while regulators turn a
blind eye, (Roundup Ready Sudden Death, Superweeds, Allergens..., SiS
28; Ban Glyphosate Herbicides Now, SiS 43).
Glyphosate binds with and inactivates EPSPS, the critical enzyme in the
shikimate pathway required for the synthesis of aromatic plant metabolites
including essential amino acids phenylalanine, tryptophan and tyrosine, as well
as downstream products such as plant growth promoter, indoylacetic acid and
plant defence compounds, phytoalexins. But glyphosate has multiple adverse
effects that act synergistically on crop health and productivity that extends
well beyond the plant into the soil ecosystem and the wider environment.
The GT trait depends on incorporating an EPSPS from the soil bacterium
Agrobacterium tumefaciens that is insensitive to glyphosate, hence glyphosate is
taken up by GT plants and translocated to the growing parts of roots and shoots,
and even exuded into the rhizosphere (soil surrounding the roots) so it can
affect the soil community of microorganisms and also subsequent crops planted in
the soil.
Two senior scientists in the US who have been investigating the ecological
impacts of glyphosate and the Roundup Ready cropping system for decades are
warning of “dire consequences for agriculture such as rendering soils infertile,
crops non-productive, and plants less nutritious.”
Glyphosate the single most important factor predisposing plants to diseases and
toxins
Don Huber, recently retired from Purdue University, and co-author G.S. Johal, at
Purdue’s Dept of Botany and Plant Pathology, stated in a paper published in the
October 2009 issue of European Journal of Agronomy that the widespread use of
glyphosate in the US can “significantly increase the severity of various plants
diseases, impair plant defense to pathogens and diseases, and immobilize soil
and plant nutrients rendering them unavailable for plant use.”
Further, glyphosate stimulates the growth of fungi and enhances the virulence of
pathogens such as Fusarium, and “can have serious consequences for sustainable
production of a wide range of susceptible crops.” They warn that “Ignoring
potential non-target detrimental side effects of any chemical, especially used
as heavily as glyphosate, may have dire consequences for agriculture such as
rendering soils infertile, crops non-productive, and plants less nutritious.”
In an interview with the Organic & Non-GMO Report, Huber said he has been
researching glyphosate for 20 years, and began noticing problems when he saw a
consistent increase in “take-all”, a fungal disease of wheat, when glyphosate
had been applied in a previous year to control weeds. He found glyphosate
reduced manganese in plants, which is essential to many plant defence reactions
against disease and environmental stress. Glyphosate can immobilize plant
nutrients such as manganese, copper, potassium iron, magnesium, calcium, and
zinc, so they are no longer nutritionally functional. Basically, glyphosate
completely weakens the plant, making it susceptible to soil-borne fungal
pathogens. “That is one reason why we see an increase in plant diseases,” he
said.
There has been a general increase in the number of plant diseases in the past 15
to 18 years. Four primary soil fungi, Fusarium, Phythium, Rhizoccccctonia, and
Phytophthora, have become more active with the use of glyphosate; and
concomitantly, diseases caused by these fungi have increased, such as head scab
in corn, or root rot in soybeans, crown rot in sugar beets. Fusarium head
blight, which affects cereal crops, is a disease that produces a mycotoxin that
could enter the food chain.
There are more than 40 diseases reported with the use of glyphosate, and the
number keeps growing as people recognize the association, Huber said.
When asked if glyphosate is “environmentally benign” as claimed by proponents,
he answered “Absolutely not. That’s an outright mistaken notion. Glyphosate is
the single most important agronomic factor predisposing some plants to both
disease and toxins. These toxins can produce a serious impact on the health of
animals and humans.
Read the rest of this article here:
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/glyphosatePoisonsCrops.php
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This article can be found on the I-SIS website at
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/glyphosatePoisonsCrops.php
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