Monsanto's glyphosate now most heavily used weed-killer in history

Monsanto's signature herbicide glyphosate, first marketed as "Roundup," is now the most widely and heavily applied weed-killer in the history of chemical agriculture in both the U.S. and globally, according to a landmark report published today.

The paper, published 2 February, 2016 in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Sciences Europe, reports that to date 18.9 billion pounds (8.6 billion kilograms) of glyphosate have been used globally.

Glyphosate use has risen almost 15-fold since so-called "Roundup Ready" genetically engineered crops were introduced in 1996.

In 2014, enough glyphosate was sprayed to leave more than three-quarters of a pound of the active ingredient on every harvested acre of cropland in the U.S., and remarkably, almost a half pound per acre on all cropland worldwide (0.53 kilogram/hectare).

The paper by Charles Benbrook, Ph.D., titled "Trends in glyphosate herbicide use in the United States and Globally," is available free online at Environmental Sciences Europe.

"The dramatic and rapid growth in overall use of glyphosate will likely contribute to a host of adverse environmental and public health consequences," Dr. Benbrook wrote.

"Yes had this on an estate Victorian era , we could only guess that previously the area had been the kitchen garden and seeded over at some point ,the furrows looked like where they had earthed up potatoes in rows but possibly also rows of fruit…"

"I've seen old daffodil fields with ridges and furrows. The spaces between the ridges were double yours though to allow walking along to pick. Could there have been commercial planting once upon a time?"

Difficult one to describe. We've got a couple of lawns that we've taken over and both (unrelated locations) have got an almost rumble strip feel to certain sections. Absolutely paralell lines in a relatively large area. I'm ensured that the only…

Comments

Jo Mullett February 6, 2016 at 10:53am

There are so many pesticides that have taken off the market for commercial and environmental/ health reasons, in many cases rightly so but perhaps a review of home use and sales should take please of glyphosate. Often people don't think twice about chucking it about on their driveways and gardens but then moan when it is found in drinking water!

Also monitoring and enforcement of legislation should be more stringent with regards to professional products and use in all sectors and anyone can still buy professional products!