Cotton and soybean varieties genetically engineered by Monsanto to tolerate the herbicide dicamba should be approved for use by farmers, said USDA in issuing its final environmental impact statement (EIS) on the strains. USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which oversees GE crops, said it would make its final regulatory determination after a 30-day viewing period. EPA also is reviewing the crops.
“The final EIS affirms APHIS’ preferred alternative to deregulate these new GE crops,” said a USDA release.
“While APHIS found that the wider use of these new GE plants would help growers manage weeds, the wider use would also likely result in an increased chance of the development of weeds resistant to dicamba. However, APHIS’ analysis showed that growers can implement diversified weed management practices to mitigate this impact,” said USDA.
Herbicide-resistant “super weeds” have shown up in some areas where glyphosate is the commonly used weedkiller. Critics say approval of crops resistant to dicamba and 2,4-D will provide only a temporary reprieve. In October, the government deregulated GE crops developed by Dow to tolerate 2,4-D. Monsanto’s glyphosate-tolerant GE varieties are known as Roundup Ready.
The Center for Food Safety, which has been skeptical of GE, pointed to USDA estimates that dicamba use would increase 10-fold and said “pesticide firms are taking agriculture back tot he dark days of heavy, indiscriminate use of hazardous pesticides.”