One of the main promises made by supporters of genetically engineered crops was that the technology would reduce pesticide use. Unfortunately, the data didn't back up the rhetoric. A backgrounder by the Center for Food Safety found that herbicide use to fight weeds in the U.S. has spiked upwards since 2002 for cotton, corn and soybeans - crops with the highest adoption rate of genetically engineered seeds.
How do we know herbicide use is up? The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service compiles data on pesticide use through extensive farmer surveys and breaks it down by crop, pesticide and state.
The NASS has been gradually scaling back its pesticide reporting program. In the 1990s, NASS issued reports every year. For most of this decade it has been every two years. Now, the agency says it will completely eliminate the program. This is beyond unacceptable.
Pesticide reporting data is absolutely critical to understanding the effect these toxic chemicals have on wildlife and water. We need to understand how these chemicals effect public health, including the health of farmers, people living rural communities and consumers. For example, last month IATP published a fact sheet on the connection between pesticide exposure and Parkinson's disease. And finally, we need to understand the effects in the fieldin areas such as yields and weed and pest resistance.
Yesterday, IATP and 43 other environmental, sustainable farming and health advocacy groups sent a letter to the USDA calling on the agency to reverse its plan to eliminate the pesticide reporting program. The USDA claims the program's elimination is simply a budgetary issue. But certainly the hidden costs to our health and the environment of living in the dark about pesticide use in the U.S. will be much greater.
