Tag Archives: evolution

Is the GM crops war over? What’s next?

Posted on May 31, 2014 by argylesock

GM (genetically modified, genetically engineered) crops are a fact of life by now. In our interconnected world (remember the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, which might be finalised soon) I think that people who oppose GM crops may have … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, fish, food, horticulture, miniculture, money and trade | Tagged Africa, America, aquaculture, Asia, biodiversity, biotechnology, Bt crop, commodity crop, crop diversity, development, Dow, entomoculture, Europe, evolution, farmer, feed, finfish, fisher, foraging, genetic modification, hunting, insect, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, invertebrate, Monsanto, neglected crop, pesticide resistance, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, population, Roundup Ready crop, shellfish, soya, staple food, superbug, superweed, Swaminathan_Monkombu, trade, tradition, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, vertebrate, wild food | 10 Comments

Soya to grow with 2,4-D

Posted on May 30, 2014 by argylesock

Crops genetically modified (GM, genetically engineered) to resist Monsanto’s weedkiller Roundup (glyphosate) aren’t the only GM crops designed to be grown with weedkiller. GRAIN tells us about a new such crop. It’s a soya (soybean, Glycine max) designed to be … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged 2 4-D, Africa, America, ammonium, Asia, auxin, biotechnology, brain, cancer, commodity crop, corn, cotton, crop variety, Dow, evolution, feed, food, Frontline, genetic modification, glufosinate, glyphosate, herbicide, herbicide resistance, history, hormone, human, kidney, liver, maize, milk, Monsanto, muscle, neurotoxin, patent, pesticide, pesticide resistance, plant_dicot, poison, Roundup, Roundup Ready crop, soya, soya DAS-44406-6, superweed, tree, vegetation, war, weed, woman | 3 Comments

Roundup Ready superweeds

Posted on May 2, 2014 by argylesock

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is a campaigning organisation based in the United States. UCS isn’t very impressed by genetically modified (GM, genetically engineered) crops. Here’s a UCS film telling us that the chemical and biotech giant Monsanto has … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture | Tagged agroecology, biotechnology, escaping transgene, evolution, genetic modification, glyphosate, Monsanto, pest, pesticide, pesticide resistance, Roundup, Roundup Ready crop, superweed, weed | 4 Comments

Monsanto Admits: 1. We Don’t Need Genetic Engineering, 2. We Don’t Need Monsanto

Posted on March 26, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on Volatility:
> Recently Wired magazine ran a Monsanto infomercial touting its alleged change of strategic course on vegetables. Monsanto, through its subsidiaries Seminis and others, is selling a line of high-end conventional vegetables dolled up as some kind of high-tech breakthrough. Contrary…

Posted in agriculture, horticulture, human health, knowledge transfer, money and trade | Tagged allergy, America, Asia, biofortification, biotechnology, brassica, breeding, broccoli, Bt crop, commodity crop, corn, cotton, crop, crop variety, DNA, drought, Europe, evolution, farmer, feed, fruit, fruit variety, genetic modification, germplasm, glucoraphanin, glyphosate, Golden Rice, grain, grocery, herbicide, herbicide resistance, history, human, insecticide, knowledge, label, lettuce, maize, marker assisted selection, melon, Monsanto, nitrogen, nutrition, onion, organic, pepper, pesticide, pesticide resistance, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, potato, research, rice, Roundup, Roundup Ready crop, salt, seed, selective breeding, Seminis, soya, tomato, trade, transport, vegetable, vegetable variety, watermelon, weed, wild vegetable | Leave a comment

Amaranth

Posted on March 22, 2014 by argylesock

Some amaranths (Amaranthus spp.) are useful for people to eat or to feed to animals. Some are weeds. It’s a huge genus including the purple amaranth (A. cruentus), the prince’s feather (A. hypochondriacus), the redroot pigweed (A. retroflexus) and the … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, knowledge transfer | Tagged amaranth, breeding, crop, development, escaping transgene, evolution, feed, food, food security, food sovereignty, glyphosate, herbicide, herbicide resistance, history, Monsanto, neglected crop, nutrition, pesticide, plant_dicot, politics, poverty, pseudocereal, quinoa, Roundup, smallholder, staple food, vegetable, weed | 2 Comments

Antibiotic Use in Chickens: Responsible for Hundreds of Human Deaths?

Posted on January 10, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on Paper to Use:
In the long back and forth between science and agriculture over the source of antibiotic resistance in humans — Due to antibiotic overuse on farms, or in human medicine? — one question has been…

Posted in agriculture, human health | Tagged antibiotic, antibiotic resistance, chicken, evolution, human, livestock, poultry | Leave a comment

A pest aphid which nicotine doesn’t kill

Posted on December 15, 2013 by argylesock

Three of the pesticides called neonics (neonicotinoids) are under a temporary ban here in Europe. It’s because there’s evidence that they kill bees. Of course bee-killing isn’t the reason neonics were used, and still are used in several countries. They’re … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, horticulture | Tagged aphid, arthropod, Europe, evolution, gene, hemipteran, honeybee, hymenopteran, insect, insecticide, insecticide resistance, law, neonicotinoid, pest, pesticide, pesticide resistance, plant_dicot, research, tobacco, virus, virus transmission, wild bee | 3 Comments

Bt crops

Posted on December 8, 2013 by argylesock

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) does what its name says it will do. Among other things, it promotes genetically modified (GM, genetically engineered, GE) crops. On the other side of this heated debate, GM Watch … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged academia, arthropod, aubergine, bacterium, biotechnology, bird, brinjal, Bt crop, Bt toxin, corn, crop, crop variety, eggplant, evolution, feed, food, food safety, genetic modification, human, insect, insecticide, insecticide resistance, knowledge, livestock, maize, maize 1507, mammal, Monsanto, organic, pest, pesticide, pesticide resistance, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, research, staple food, vegetable, vertebrate, wildlife | 10 Comments

Agricultural Biotechnology and the Use of Herbicides in US Agriculture

Posted on December 2, 2013 by argylesock

Originally posted on Global Food Politics:
An interesting response to an earlier post on the limited consumer benefits of agricultural biotechnology led me in search of data on the application of herbicides and pesticides to genetically engineered crops. What I…

Posted in agriculture | Tagged biotechnology, crop, evolution, genetic modification, glyphosate, herbicide, history, Monsanto, Roundup, Roundup Ready crop, weed | Leave a comment

Who’s the most hated company? Monsanto!

Posted on November 24, 2013 by argylesock

The chemical and biotechnology giant, Monsanto, calls itself ‘a sustainable agriculture company.’ If you want to know more of its viewpoint you can read its blog, Beyond the Rows. Not everybody thinks that Monsanto is all about sustainable agriculture. Do … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, human health, money and trade, weather and climate | Tagged BASF, Bayer, biotechnology, climate, climate-ready crop, conservation, crop, development, Dow, DuPont, evolution, fertiliser, food, food safety, genetic modification, herbicide, history, human, invasive species, Monsanto, pesticide, politics, seed, sustainable, Syngenta, trade, water, weed, yield | 8 Comments