who benefits from gm crops? the rise in pesticide use

The report argues that GM crops, primarily herbicide-tolerant and insect-resistant varieties of soya, maize, cotton, and canola, have not increased yields and have instead driven a rise in pesticide use due to the emergence of resistant weeds. It highlights the monopolization of the seed supply by a few corporations, specifically Monsanto, and documents the negative socio-economic impacts on small farmers in the US, India, and South America, including increased debt and rural poverty.

• GM crops are concentrated in a few nations, with over 90% of the area planted in the US, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. The US alone produces over 50% of the world's GM crops.
• The biotechnology industry has failed to introduce GM crops with enhanced nutrition, higher yield potential, drought-tolerance, or salt-tolerance, focusing instead on herbicide tolerance and insect resistance.
• In the United States, the adoption of Roundup Ready crops and the subsequent emergence of glyphosate-resistant weeds led to a more than 15-fold increase in glyphosate use on major field crops between 1994 and 2005.
• Roundup Ready soya is associated with a 'yield drag,' producing 5% to 10% fewer bushels per acre than identical conventional varieties, partly because glyphosate inhibits the uptake of essential nutrients like manganese.
• The global seed supply is increasingly monopolized; the top ten seed firms controlled 57% of the world's commercial seed supply in 2006, with Monsanto being the world's number one seed firm.
• In Argentina, glyphosate-resistant Johnsongrass has become a major threat, infesting over 120,000 hectares of prime cropland by 2007, which is expected to increase production costs by 160 to 950 million dollars per year.
• In India, the perceived yield increases from Bt cotton are attributed to favorable weather and monsoon rains rather than the GM technology itself, while the high cost of seeds contributes to a crisis of debt-driven farmer suicides in regions like Vidarbha.
• In Brazil, the adoption of GM soya has been linked to a 60% increase in the use of the 15 main active ingredients in soya herbicides between 2000 and 2005, with glyphosate use growing by 79.6%.
• In Paraguay, the expansion of GM soy monocultures has coincided with an increase in extreme rural poverty, with the proportion of the population living below the poverty line rising from 33.9% in 2000 to 39.2% in 2005.
• In the European Union, GM crops have seen very limited adoption, with only Monsanto's Bt maize MON810 planted on approximately 100,000 hectares, representing less than 2% of the total maize crop area.

APA

Villar, J. L., & Freese, B. (2008). who benefits from gm crops? the rise in pesticide use. Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/gmcrops2008full.pdf

Chicago

Villar, Juan Lopez, and Bill Freese. who benefits from gm crops? the rise in pesticide use. Friends of the Earth International, 2008. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/gmcrops2008full.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Villar |first1=Juan Lopez |last2=Freese |first2=Bill |title=who benefits from gm crops? the rise in pesticide use |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=January 2008 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/gmcrops2008full.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{villar2008who, author = {Villar, Juan Lopez and Freese, Bill}, title = {{who benefits from gm crops? the rise in pesticide use}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2008}, month = jan, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/gmcrops2008full.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }