Battling Superweeds

 In the late 1990s, farmers in the Southeast began planting Roundup Ready cotton -- genetically engineered by Monsanto to withstand heavy doses of the herbicide. Roundup. As a result, use of Roundup exploded -- and the farmers enjoyed weedless fields of mono-cropped cotton. But after a point, something funny happened -- certain weeds began to survive the Roundup dousings.

These "superweeds" had somehow gained Roundup resistance themselves and the Arkansas Agricultural Extension Service called in a scientist from the England to study the matter. His report was not encouraging. "We may expect the current weed resistance problems could be the tip of the iceberg," he said.

The problem stems from planting the same crops year after year in the same field, and dousing those fields several times each year with the same herbicide. According to agricultural scientists everywhere, the problem is growing.

 Ric Wesselman, President of the  Washington Wheat Foundation who also works for Syngenta has advice. His first suggestion is crop rotation to manage disease. Secondly, “It’s really important to focus on resistance management resistance management, on the herbicide, specially crop rotations and managing the diversity of chemistry within the cropping rotation.  There’s known resistance to some broad leaf herbicides, there’s known resistance to some grass herbicides, so I’m a real proponent in one and three years to go use something different. It’s important, one in three years to switch, keep that diversity, it keeps the weeds guessing so to speak.  “