[Editor’s note: Ian Pigott is a farmer in Harpenden, UK. Located just 20 miles from the center of London, he grows wheat, rapeseed, and oats. The farm is a LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) demonstration farm.]
On my farm, glyphosate helps me embrace the environmental responsibilities that I so passionately promote.
…
If we weren’t able to use glyphosate, we would have to abandon conservation agriculture. This would mean a return to ploughing the soil, which destroys the microbiome of beneficial fungi, bacteria and archaea that we have so worked hard to establish. It would also mean we would have to burn more diesel, contribute more nitrous oxide pollution to the atmosphere, and disrupt the natural habitats we are supporting.
…
Farmers have used glyphosate safely for decades, but in recent years anti-GMO activists have tried to target the product because it often works in harmony with biotechnology—i.e., crops that have been bred through modern science to resist the effects of glyphosate. Their latest attempt involved trying to pressure the EU, during its routine re-approval of glyphosate for widespread use, to condemn glyphosate as a cancer-causing menace.
Share this article
All too often, a sensationalist media has chosen to publish the worst accusations these anti-GMO protestors have leveled at glyphosate, without investigating the truth of their claims.
The time has come to reject the hysteria and embrace the science….
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: It’s time to reject the hysteria and embrace the science
For more background on the Genetic Literacy Project, read GLP on Wikipedia
