The costs of careless farming

摘要

Resistance is far from futile. Agricultural pests are evolving immunity to the toxins in genetically modified crops that are meant to kill them, according to a global review. That is dismaying, but it should not come as a surprise. The warning lights have been flashing for years, ever since US researchers found widespread resistance in weeds to glyphosate. Originally, only the GM crops were resistant to glyphosate, so spraying it enabled farmers to control weeds without harming crops. But injudicious use of the weedkiller, and failure to take other precautions, has driven the weeds to evolve resistance.