London TIMES   July 8 1999
   
   UNITED STATES
   
   GM farms 'use more pesticides'
   
   BY ADAM SHERWIN
   
   A KEY justification for genetically modified crops has been thrown
   into doubt by new American Government research.
   
   Many farmers who have converted to GM production are using just as
   much pesticide as their counterparts who have stuck with conventional
   crops.
   
   Some farmers are apparently using more than they did before, according
   to figures published in New Scientist.
   
   The US Department of Agriculture research also revealed that yields of
   GM crops were in most cases no better than traditional ones. The
   figures challenge biotechnology companies' insistence that GM crops
   assist farming efficiency and reduce the need for pesticides.
   
   The department split America into regions and studied the performance
   of cotton, maize and soya beans which had been engineered to be
   resistant to insect pests or to the herbicide glyphosate.
   
   It discovered that in seven of the 12 categories farmers using GM
   crops had to add the same quantities of pesticides to their fields as
   those growing non-modified crops.
   
   The research, which used figures for 1997 and 1998, also found that
   after dividing the US into 18 regions, yields were no better in 12 of
   them.
   
   Department officials admit that, at face value, the figures do not
   provide much support for those who argue genetic engineering will
   bring about a revolution in agriculture and Friends of the Earth
   claimed the research undermined the arguments of the biotechnology
   industry.
   
   But Ralph Heimlich, an economic analyst, said that the study could be
   misleading, since farmers who have embraced GM crops might have had
   worse problems with pests to begin with.
   
   There were also some success stories: insect-resistant GM maize in
   America's midwest produced a 30 per cent greater yield than ordinary
   crops.