Chemical Controversies
Pesticides are substances that prevent, destroy, repel, or reduce the severity of pests. Pests are living things that occur where they are not wanted or that cause damage to humans, crops, or animals. Pests can be insects, rodents, unwanted plants, bacteria, viruses, or different types of fungus. Pesticides can vary in how toxic they are to humans and the environment. Some are persistent in the environment, animals, and birds, lasting for years; others break down soon after they are released. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grants licenses, or registrations, to pesticides that it has found do not pose unreasonable risks to human health and the environment; it has registered at least 865 pesticides, which are used in thousands of pesticide products.
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European farmers caught in middle of political battles over pesticide bans, biotech mergers
[Editor's note: Robert de Graeff is senior policy officer for the European Landowners’ Organization.] It is fair to say that pesticides ...
Why hasn’t India embraced GM food as it did Green Revolution technologies?
[Editor's note: Vivian Fernandes is editor of Smart Indian Agriculture, a website devoted to promoting modern practices in agriculture including use ...
Switchgrass biofuel? New gene that makes plant sterile could ease contamination concerns
Switchgrass has been lauded as a promising source of biofuel.... Genetically modifying switchgrass could boost crop yields and its commercial ...
Green genes: Germany’s top organic researcher says environmentalists should embrace CRISPR editing
[Editor's note: The following is a Q&A with Urs Niggli, director of the Research Institute for Organic Agriculture in Germany ...
How CRISPR gene editing can speed up domestication to make crops more sustainable, nutritious
Out of the more than 300,000 plant species in existence, only three species – rice, wheat, and maize – account ...
Can farmers reduce pesticide use but maintain expected yields? Study of French farms says yes
A team of researchers with members affiliated with several institutions in France has found that lowering the amount of pesticides ...
New EPA head Scott Pruit poised to challenge ‘politics driven’ farm chemical regulations
[Editor’s note: Henry Miller is a physician and molecular biologist, and was the founding director of the FDA’s Office of Biotechnology.] ...
Getting Risk Right: Geoffrey Kabat’s book asks, “are we afraid of the wrong things?”
[Editor's note: Geoffrey Kabat is a cancer researcher and an epidemiologist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.] Why do things that ...
When Celebrity And Science Collide: Hollywood And The Anti-Biotechnology Food Movement
Celebrityhood does not equate with science knowledge. The opinions of music and media stars are no more relevant to the ...
Tanzania’s first ever GMO field trial: Drought-tolerant, insect-resistant corn ‘shows promising results’
Tanzania's first-ever genetically-modified crop trial was planted only a 30-minute drive from the capital. ... A year ago the Tanzanian ...
Only 1 percent of US farmland is certified organic. Why aren’t more farmers making the switch?
There are two stories to tell about the state of organic agriculture in the US. The first is a success ...
5 non-GMO ‘frankenfoods’ that can carry organic label
One of the most common food myths of our time is that GMOs are “frankenfoods” while heirloom or organic varieties ...
Massachusetts mulls restrictions on neonicotinoid pesticides over bee safety concerns
A type of pesticide many beekeepers blame for mass bee die-offs would come under tighter regulation under a bill filed ...
UK farmers push back against ‘pseudo-science attack’ on herbicide glyphosate
Hundreds of farmers across Britain are coming together in a concerted effort to show politicians and the public why glyphosate ...
Blight-resistant genetically engineered potatoes that cut fungicide use approved
Three types of potatoes genetically engineered to resist the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine are safe for the ...
How to stop fungi that infect, destroy crops? Target their ‘friends’
By itself, [the pathogenic fungus Rhizoctonia solani] is responsible for the turfgrass disease called brown patch, sheath blight within rice, ...
Iowa farmer: 8 popular food companies that promote myths about GMOs
[Editor’s note: Michelle Miller, known on social media as the Farm Babe, raises lamb and beef cattle, and grows almost ...
Idaho GMO sugar beet farmers mull ditching crop as more food companies adopt non-GMO label
Idaho sugar beet farmers have grown increasingly dependent on genetically modified seeds for cost savings and greater yields over the ...
Precision agriculture: How big data can make farms more sustainable
Farmers have numerous sources of technology and data available to use in their operations, but many producers struggle with what ...
Perplexing Case Of Consumer Confusion About GE Foods In a ‘Fake News’ World
Information issued by scientific organizations often do not change perceptions. This is especially true for people with rooted 'tribal' beliefs ...
1 in 3 Scottish farmers blame ban of neonicotinoid pesticides for rapeseed crop damage
More than a third of Scottish arable farmers say the ban on neonicotinoids has resulted in greater damage to oilseed ...
Bayer takeover of Monsanto delayed as US, European regulators seek more information on deal
The German drugmaker will only seek approval for the transaction in the European Union next quarter after regulators there requested ...
Whole Foods, Patagonia, Clif Bar school lunch program promotes misconceptions about pesticides, seed saving
[Editor's note: Stephan Neidenbach is a middle school teacher, father, and blogger.] The Conscious Kitchen program (funded by Patagonia, Clif ...
Trump’s threatened ‘trade war’ with Mexico could undermine US GMO corn market
[Editor's note: More than 90% of the US corn market is GMO — a combination of herbicide-tolerant and insect-resistant varieties.] ...
Commercialization, research on ‘home-grown’ GMO crops backed by Kenyan lawmakers
Kenyan crop researchers are free to start commercial growing of Genetically Modified (GMO) cotton, the country’s lawmakers said on Tuesday ...
Did Google do the right thing in blocking Natural News from searches?
[Editor’s note: Read the GLP’s profile on Natural News founder Mike Adams. Also: FBI turns up heat on Mike Adams ...
How European-Based NGOs Block Crop Biotechnology Adoption In Africa
European politicians and anti-biotech groups lobby to prevent Africa from adopting or trading GE crops. Farmers have been forced to ...
