SUPERWEEDS ON THE MARCH CLAIM 
09 Feb 2001
by Farming News reporters

Genetically modified superweeds are invading Canadian farms, a
report from the Royal Society of Canada claims.

The report, which directly contradicts the findings of a ten-year
Imperial College study published this week, found that three strains 
of oilseed rape plant, each engineered to be resistant to a particular 
pesticide, had merged to form a plant resistant to many different pesticides.

This plant is now invading cereal areas and farmers are having to
resort to using broad spectrum pesticides - the very chemicals the 
engineered plants were designed to render obsolescent - to remove them.

"Herbicide-resistant volunteer oilseed rape plants are beginning to
develop into a major problem in the prairies," states the report.

"The point is, technology is still driving agricultural production
along a chemical-dependence route. And I think that's something the 
Government has to take a very serious look at," says one of the 
report's authors.

The controversy comes as the Government announced an increase in
separation distances for trial GM crops and a report in this week's 
New Scientist suggests that one third of US farmers are failing to 
adhere to recommended separation distances when growing GM crops.