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Other GM crops grown in 2014 include Alfalfa (862 000 ha), sugar beet (494 000 ha) and papaya (7 475 ha). In Bangladesh a genetically modified eggplant was grown commercially for the first time on 12 ha. [6] The majority of GM crops have been modified to be resistant to selected herbicides, usually a glyphosate or glufosinate based one.
Current Roundup Ready crops include soy, corn (maize), canola, [2] sugar beets, [3] cotton, and alfalfa, [4] with wheat [5] still under development. Additional information on Roundup Ready crops is available on the GM Crops List. [6] As of 2005, 87% of U.S. soybean fields were planted with glyphosate resistant varieties. [7] [8]
Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum herbicide, which is used to kill weeds and grasses which are known to compete with commercial crops grown around the world. The first product came onto the market in the 1970's under the name ‘Roundup’. Plants which are exposed to glyphosate are unable to produce aromatic amino acids and in turn die. [1]
Crops have been genetically engineered to be tolerant of glyphosate (e.g. Roundup Ready soybean, the first Roundup Ready crop, also created by Monsanto), which allows farmers to use glyphosate as a post-emergence herbicide against weeds.
The most prevalent GM trait is herbicide tolerance, [141] where glyphosate-tolerance is the most common. [142] Glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup and other herbicide products) kills plants by interfering with the shikimate pathway in plants, which is essential for the synthesis of the aromatic amino acids phenylalanine , tyrosine ...
Glyphosate disrupts the ability of most plants to construct new proteins. Glyphosate-tolerant transgenic crops are not affected. [7] A weed family that includes waterhemp (Amaranthus rudis) has developed glyphosate-resistant strains. A 2008 to 2009 survey of 144 populations of waterhemp in 41 Missouri counties revealed glyphosate resistance in 69%.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, however, has a much higher tolerance for glysphosate in crops, allowing levels ranging from 0.1 to 310 parts per million. ... Glyphosate is most used as a ...
Monsanto also produced seeds which grow into plants genetically engineered to be tolerant to glyphosate, which are known as Roundup Ready crops. The genes contained in these seeds are patented. Such crops allow farmers to use glyphosate as a post-emergence herbicide against most broadleaf and cereal weeds.