Weeds that are resistant to the herbicide glyphosate are spreading at exponential rates in U.S. farms. They are also being increasingly documented in Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Europe and South Africa.
Although Monsanto claims that its GM technologies help the environment by reducing pesticide use, resistant weeds have developed largely as a result of large-scale use of such technologies. Glyphosate is the active ingredient of Monsanto’s best-selling herbicide, Roundup.
According to the Institute of Science in Society:
“The company is refusing to accept responsibility for rising weed costs, stating that ‘Roundup agricultural warranties will not cover the failure to control glyphosate resistant weed populations’ ... This is in contrast to two years ago, when Monsanto denied the scale of the problem and insisted the weeds were ‘manageable’ ... Resistant weeds so far cover over 4.5 million hectares in the US alone, while world-wide coverage is thought to have reached at least 120 million hectares by 2010.”
And the reality, folks, is that the problem is far worse than this article states -- far, far worse.