GM canola hype misrepresents - but has the potential weed threat reality to make it worse

摘要

The agronomy reality behind the debate associated with lifting the ban on genetically modified (GM) canola varieties doesn't match the rhetoric involved. Listening to the pro-GM canola advocates, the decision to allow farmers to plant Roundup Ready and InVigor varieties in Victoria and New South Wales is a major breakthrough in agronomy and profitability. But a 2007 survey of farmers and advisors across all canola growing states in Australia, demonstrates how irrelevant most of the claims made are about the useful advantages GM canola. The bottom line from the survey is that most farmers grow canola for a range of crop rotation purposes with the aim of improving profitability of their dominant crops, wheat and barley.