27.08.2013 Views

Sustainable Agriculture Literature Review - Boulder County

Sustainable Agriculture Literature Review - Boulder County

Sustainable Agriculture Literature Review - Boulder County

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

! ! !!<br />

"#$%&!'())!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!@+!A142!"#5#81B152!<br />

!<br />

Graph 19: Rate of Adoption for Genetically Engineered Crops in the U.S 567<br />

Biotechnology in agriculture is a highly debated topic because of transgenic crops, which<br />

were first developed in laboratories around 1983. 568 The most common types of GE crops<br />

are those that contain pest management traits such as herbicide tolerance or insect<br />

resistance. 569 Herbicide tolerant (HT) crops allow farmers to control weeds using<br />

herbicides that would usually destroy the crop. The most common herbicide-tolerant crops<br />

are Roundup Ready® crops that are resistant to glyphosate. Other herbicide resistant<br />

crops include Liberty Link® corn (resistant to glufosinate-ammonium) and BXN cotton<br />

(resistant to bromoxynil). In addition to genetically engineered HT crops, there are<br />

traditionally-bred herbicide-tolerant crops, such as corn that is resistant to imidazolinone<br />

and sethoxydim as well as soybeans that are resistant to sulfonylurea. 570 Insect-resistant<br />

crops contain a gene from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which produces its<br />

own toxins to help protect the plant from insects. Farmers often see higher yields with Bt<br />

crops compared to conventional crops because the trait stays in the plant throughout the<br />

growing season, however, additional insecticides are still needed to manage pests that are<br />

not targeted by the Bt trait. 571 Roundup Ready® and Liberty Link® corn are two varieties of<br />

GE crops grown in <strong>Boulder</strong> <strong>County</strong>. 572<br />

"$)"<br />

!,342#.5#6/1!78$.%3/23$1!<br />

9.21$#23$1!:1;.1

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!