A newly publicized study by researchers with the University of Saskatchewan confirms what many farmers already knew.
Glyphosate, one of the world’s most widely used herbicides, and crops that are genetically modified to tolerate the herbicide have contributed to better soil management through reduced tillage.
The researchers with the university’s agricultural and resource economics department set out to quantify the net increases in carbon sequestration due to the virtual elimination of summerfallow practices, reductions in tillage and the use of herbicide-tolerant crops over three decades. Based on a 1,000-hectare farm, it equates with the emissions from 432 cars.
The research appears focused on creating a more positive aura around the herbicide, which is in some campaigners’ eyes symbolic of everything bad about modern agriculture. Some blame it for cancer. Some buyers refuse to buy grains treated with it pre-harvest for fear of residues, and some jurisdictions are moving to restrict or ban its use altogether.
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“Countries that ban genetically modified crops and are enacting legislation restricting glyphosate use are implementing policies that Canadian farm evidence indicates will not contribute to increasing agricultural sustainability,” they write.
