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Subject: Market Farming
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- From: Steve Gilman <stevegilman AT verizon.net>
- To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
- Subject: [Market-farming] Now......GMO sweet corn
- Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2011 11:58:01 -0400
The biggest question here is now that it is genetically engineered into crops on millions of acres -- what will happen to Bt? Derived from a soil organism, Bt is a safe, non-human specific toxic (at least we thought so) "national treasure". Farmers have successfully and effectively been using Bt -- sprays -- for over 40 years now with no major signs of pest insect resistance. That's because it has a short duration field life -- Spray Bt breaks down in sunlight in 3 to 5 days and there's minimal selection pressure to breed up resistant pests. Genetically engineered (GE) Bt is a whole different organism. Genetically engineered into the corn genome it is expressed full time at a much higher dose in every part of the plant-- from rhizome to stalk to corn to pollen. The selection pressure is enormous -- the survivors have the fields to themselves -- free to feed and breed with no competition. Originally farmers were supposed to plant nearby acreage in non-GMO crops as "refugia" to prevent resistance -- but that proved too expensive and time-consuming. So now there's "superbugs" joining the "superweeds": And there goes Bt to GMO resistance -- one of the most valuable tools in all farmers' toolkits -- all in 5 years or so... Steve On Sep 19, 2011, at 9:49 PM, market-farming-request AT lists.ibiblio.org wrote: Message: 3 |
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Re: [Market-farming] Now......GMO sweet corn
, (continued)
- Re: [Market-farming] Now......GMO sweet corn, Road's End Farm, 09/20/2011
- Re: [Market-farming] Now......GMO sweet corn, Andy Fellenz, 09/20/2011
- Re: [Market-farming] Now......GMO sweet corn, sals3, 09/20/2011
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Re: [Market-farming] Now......GMO sweet corn,
Brigette Leach, 09/20/2011
- Re: [Market-farming] Now......GMO sweet corn, McCormick, Rebecca (Genworth), 09/20/2011
- Re: [Market-farming] Now......GMO sweet corn, Richard Stewart, 09/20/2011
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Re: [Market-farming] Now......GMO sweet corn,
KAKerby, 09/20/2011
- Re: [Market-farming] Now......GMO sweet corn, Vern and Amy, 09/22/2011
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Re: [Market-farming] Now......GMO sweet corn,
sunnfarm, 09/20/2011
- Re: [Market-farming] Now......GMO sweet corn, Road's End Farm, 09/20/2011
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[Market-farming] Now......GMO sweet corn,
Steve Gilman, 09/20/2011
- Re: [Market-farming] Now......GMO sweet corn, Marty Kraft, 09/20/2011
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Re: [Market-farming] Now......GMO sweet corn,
KAKerby, 09/22/2011
- Re: [Market-farming] Now......GMO sweet corn, Vern and Amy, 09/22/2011
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