Though biotech companies like Monsanto spent many millions creating and inserting genes that would make corn plants poisonous to the corn rootworm but harmless to other creatures, the pest has begun to develop an immunity.
Though the use of chemical pesticides has always been a source of contention, the advent of corn hybrid plants by biotech companies like Monsanto allowed farmers to cut back on their use. These new hybrids had been specifically designed using genes from a bacteria called Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which provided a formidable defense against corn rootworm.
Throughout parts of the midwest, however, farmers are now discovering rootworms that are immune to the genetically modified corn. In parts of Illinois, Minnesota and Nebraska, where rootworm has made a comeback, farmers have now returned to using chemical pesticides.
According to Dan Steiner, an independent crop consultant in northeastern Nebraska, the return of the soil insecticides brings back bad memories.
“We used to get sick [from the chemicals],” Steiner tells NPR.
“Because we’d always dig to see how the corn’s coming along. We didn’t wear the gloves and everything, and we’d kind of puke in the middle of the day. Well, I think we were low-dosing poison on ourselves!”
According to the US Department of Agriculture, two thirds of all corn grown in the US is of a hybrid variety, carrying the Bt gene that targets the rootworm. The first hybrids were introduced in 2003 and, as their proliferation now shows, proved to be very popular.
Though traditional pesticides may help in evening out the odds, there are other alternatives to combat rootworm despite its adaptation to the corn hybrid. Steiner, for one, has advocated “starving” the rootworm by depriving it of its food source, and advising farmers to rotate their crops from corn.
Posted by The NON-Conformist
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