rootworms

In a Nov. 22 memo, the EPA scientists conclude that Monsanto needs to expand its monitoring program now that rootworms in portions of four Midwest states are "suspected" of having developed resistance to the plants.

EPA Warns Monsanto About Bugs Scott Kilman 2011

Iowa State University entomologist Aaron Gassmann 's discovery that western corn rootworms in four northeast Iowa fields have evolved to resist the natural pesticide made by Monsanto's corn plant could encourage some farmers to switch to insect-proof seeds sold by competitors of the St. Louis crop biotechnology giant, and to return to spraying harsher synthetic insecticides on their fields.

Monsanto Corn Plant Losing Bug Resistance Scott Kilman 2011

According to Dr. Gassmann, the Iowa fields in which he found rootworms resistant to the Cry3Bb1 toxin had been producing Monsanto's Bt-expressing corn continuously for at least three years.

Monsanto Corn Plant Losing Bug Resistance Scott Kilman 2011

Dr. Gray said the confirmation of toxin-resistant rootworms in Iowa could force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to revisit its policy of allowing the size of these insect refuges to shrink to as little as 5% of a cornfield as crop biotechnology companies begin to sell seed for corn plants that can make two different rootworm-killing toxins.

Monsanto Corn Plant Losing Bug Resistance Scott Kilman 2011

Craig Lassig for The New York Times Ken Ostlie, an entomologist, said Syngenta had withdrawn its permission and a study about corn and rootworms had to stop.

Crop Scientists Say Biotechnology Seed Companies Are Thwarting Research 2009

Dr. Ostlie, at the University of Minnesota, said he had permission from three companies in 2007 to compare how well their insect-resistant corn varieties fared against the rootworms found in his state.

Crop Scientists Say Biotechnology Seed Companies Are Thwarting Research 2009

Craig Lassig for The New York Times Insect-resistant corn varieties are bred to repel rootworms. click here This Image click here

Crop Scientists Say Biotechnology Seed Companies Are Thwarting Research 2009

The use of DBCP, which battles rootworms, resulted in more than thirty thousand South American men becoming sterile.

The Fruit Hunters Adam Leith Gollner 2008

The use of DBCP, which battles rootworms, resulted in more than thirty thousand South American men becoming sterile.

The Fruit Hunters Adam Leith Gollner 2008

The use of DBCP, which battles rootworms, resulted in more than thirty thousand South American men becoming sterile.

The Fruit Hunters Adam Leith Gollner 2008