Canadian agronomists detail the benefits of GM canola in the ground.
Check out the following letter to the editor of the Canberra Times in Australia. The author is seeking to correct a previous article on GM canola and its benefits.
C.S. Prakash
Canadian agronomists detail the benefits of GM canola in the ground.
GMO Pundit
February 26, 2008
Dr Rene Van Acker is right to suggest Australia should learn from Canada's experiences regarding genetically modified canola (Look to Canada for GE solutions, February 5, p11).
However, he is less correct in the Canadian lessons he gives. The benefits of herbicide tolerant canola for western Canada have far out weighed the risks over the last 11 years.
A recent study on the impacts of GMHT canola in western Canada carried out by the University of Saskatchewan gives some real life lessons that can be heeded. Results show that 90 per cent of canola farmers report reduced soil erosion and increased soil moisture conservation.
Sixty per cent of growers reported a carry-over benefit to the subsequent crop year in terms of improved weed control, with half of these growers assigning a dollar value of $A13.09, or about the cost of one glyphosate application in Canada. Fifty per cent reported they used no chemicals on crops that followed GMHT canola which had dramatically reduced the volume of chemicals applied to fields.
Canola used to be reserved for the most weed-free fields but is now a crop for difficult fields with weed problems.
In addition to the direct benefits to growers of increased yield and profitability, breeding and crop development activities by private companies has increased dramatically. The result has been more (150) and higher-yielding hybrid variety choices.
