Soybean 40-3-2 Organisation: Friends of the Earth Europe Country: Belgium Type: Non Profit Organisation

Increased use of pesticides due to glyphosate tolerant crops in USA Most herbicide tolerant crops are grown in the USA, Brazil and Argentina. US Department of Agriculture data shows that between 1994 and 2006 glyphosate use per hectare of soybeans increased by more than 2.5 times, from 0.58 to 1.49 kg/ha/year. Glyphosate also did not replace other herbicides. During the period 2002 to 2006 the use of 2,4-D on soybean fields in the US more than doubled. (Benbrook, C. M. 2009. Impacts of genetically engineered crops on pesticide use in the United States: the first thirteen years. The Organic Center. November. http://www.organic-center.org/reportfiles/GE13YearsReport.pdf) Similar developments can be observed in Brazil, 65-70% of the soy being grown is GM soy, between 2003 and 2008, Brazilian herbicide use in soy cultivation increased substantially from 2.8 kg/ha to 4.2 kg/ha. (Meyer D. E., Cederberg Ch. 2011. Pesticide Use and Glyphosate Resistant Weeds – a Case study of Brazilian Soybean Production. Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology. http://www.biosafety-info.net/article.php?aid=815) In their opinion about the GM soybean 40-3-2 tolerant to glyphosate EFSA assumes: “It is also expected that the introduction of glyphosate in GMHT soybean will replace or reduce the use of other herbicidal active substances used pre-emergence or post-emergence of the crop.”