The world according to Monsanto : pollution, corruption, and

the iron law of the patenting of life 219to the weeds the gene for Roundup resistance. This happens particularly withcanola, a natural hybrid of turnip and cabbage, able to exchange genes withrelated wild species, such as wild radish, mustard, and arugula, that farmersconsider weeds. A study conducted by Mike Wilkinson of the University ofReading confirmed in 2003 that the flow of genes between canola and wildturnip (Brassica rapa), one of the most widespread adventitious plants, wasvery common, which indicated that “cross-pollination between GM plantsand their wild relatives is inevitable and could create hybrid superweeds resistantto the most powerful weedkillers,” as the Independent pointed out. 45The third case in which superweeds appear is simply because, havingbeen sprayed exclusively by Roundup several times a year, year after year,weeds develop resistance to the herbicide. Oddly, even though the companyhas had long experience with herbicides, it has always denied this phenomenon:“After 20 years of use, there are no reports of any weedy speciesdeveloping resistance to Roundup herbicide,” claims an advertisementextolling the virtues of RR soybeans. 46 Similarly, in its 2005 Pledge Report,the company continues to assert that transgenic crops “allow growers to useless herbicide.” 47“Untrue,” says the American agronomist Charles Benbrook in a studypublished in 2004 titled “Genetically Engineered Crops and Pesticide Usein the United States: The First Nine Years.” 48 According to him, the claim ofreduction in the use of herbicides was valid for the first three years followingthe introduction of GM crops in 1995, but not after 1999. “The increasedherbicide use . . . should come as no surprise,” he explains. “Weed scientistshave warned for about a decade that heavy reliance on HT [herbicidetolerant]crops would trigger changes in weed communities and resistance,in turn forcing farmers to apply additional herbicides and/or increase herbiciderates of application. ...Farmers across the American Midwest lookback fondly on the initial efficacy and simplicity of the Roundup Ready systemand many miss the ‘good old days.’”Charles Benbrook knows his subject: after working as an agriculture expertin the Carter White House and then on Capitol Hill, he was head of theagriculture division of the National Academy of Sciences for seven years beforesetting up his own independent consulting firm in Sandpoint, Idaho.Since 1996 he has been carefully studying the data on herbicide use recordedby the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), a division of USDA,comparing them with the data supplied by Monsanto, which he considers