《华尔街日报》2015年3月5日报道：美国环保局（EPA）首次建议限制某些转基因玉米的种植，以对抗某种害虫对杀虫转基因作物产生的抗性，这对生物种子公司是一个潜在打击。
Limits Sought on GMO Corn as Pest
Resistance Grows
Rootworm gains ground; seed producers
criticize EPA proposal
By
Jacob Bunge
March 5, 2015 3:24 p.m.
ET
U.S. regulators for the first time are proposing limits on the
planting of some genetically engineered corn to combat a voracious
pest that has evolved to resist the bug-killing crops, a potential
blow to makers of biotech seeds.
The measures proposed by the
Environmental Protection Agency represent a bold step to thwart the
corn rootworm, a bug that ranks among the most expensive crop
threats to U.S. corn farmers.
The plan is aimed at widely grown
corn varieties sold by Monsanto Co. , the first to sell
rootworm-resistant corn, and rival seed makers including DuPont Co.
and Dow Chemical Co. Such corn seeds have been genetically modified
to secrete proteins that are toxic to destructive insects, but safe
for human consumption, helping to reduce farmers’ reliance on
synthetic pesticides. ...华岳论坛 -
"http://washeng.net"
Related
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Approved for Sale in U.S. Feb. 13, 2015
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Bill Gates Discusses GMO Controversy: Video Jan 21,
2015
Monsanto, Under Attack for GMOs, Has a New Defender Sept. 4,
2014
.
The EPA’s proposal would require seed companies to limit some
Midwestern farmers’ practice of sowing fields with corn year after
year in areas harboring resistant rootworms, whose cream-colored
larvae gnaw on corn roots and stunt plants’ growth. The EPA is
concerned that if the resistance continues, it will lead farmers to
use more synthetic chemicals to thwart the bug, creating
environmental risks.
Representatives of the biotech-seed
industry have criticized some parts of the proposal, which was
released in January and is subject to a public-comment period until
March 16, after which the EPA will finalize any new
requirements. ...华岳论坛 -
"http://hua-yue.net"
Pests are becoming resistant to GMO
corn meant to thwart them. ENLARGE
Pests are becoming resistant to GMO corn meant to thwart them.
Photo: Joseph L. Spencer/University of
Illinois
.
The agency is taking a tougher stance because the industry’s
efforts haven’t done enough to stem the spread of
pesticide-resistant rootworms in the Midwest, officials
said.
“It is getting worse,” said Bill
Jordan, the EPA’s deputy head of pesticide programs. “What’s
happened so far hasn’t prevented these problems from arising, so we
see need for something more.”
Seed-company officials say they
already encourage farmers to alternate planting of corn and other
crops like soybeans to prevent resistant rootworms from
establishing themselves. Other efforts also have helped, such as
planting small quantities of non-biotech corn in parts of farmers’
fields to slow the bugs’ evolution, they say. Each year, the
rootworm costs U.S. corn farmers about $1 billion to $2 billion in
damages and outlays to thwart the insect, according to Michael
Gray, an entomologist at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign. ...华岳论坛 -
"http://washeng.net"
A western corn rootworm beetle on
corn plant/kernels, in Illinois. ENLARGE
A western corn rootworm beetle on corn plant/kernels, in Illinois.
Photo: Joseph L. Spencer/University of
Illinois
.
Parts of the EPA’s plan are “quite prescriptive,” said Jeff
Bookout, head of U.S. commercial stewardship at Monsanto and
chairman of the Agricultural Biotechnology Stewardship Technical
Committee, an industry group. “We need to make sure we provide
choices and options for growers…not a one-size-fits all
[solution].”
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