Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumMonsanto Vs Nature: The Weeds Fight Back
http://www.alternet.org/environment/155741/monsanto_vs_nature%3A_the_weeds_fight_back/Rather than find ways to cooperate with the natural world, America's agribusiness giants reach for the next quick fix in a futile effort to overpower nature. Their attitude is that if brute force isn't working, they're probably not using enough of it.
Monsanto, for example, has banked a fortune by selling a corn seed that it genetically manipulated to produce corn plants that won't die when sprayed with the Roundup toxic weedkiller. Not coincidentally, Monsanto also happens to manufacture Roundup. It profits from the seed and from the huge jump in Roundup sales that the seed generates. Slick.
But Mother Nature, darn it, has rebelled. So much of Monsanto's poison was spread in the past decade that weeds naturally began to resist it. As a Dow Chemical agronomist explained, "The real need here is to diversify our weed management systems."
Exactly right! We need non-chemical, sustainable systems that work with nature and without genetically altered crops.
SouthernLiberal
(407 posts)More than 15 years ago, I had some weeds that Roundup would not kill. I actually think they liked it! After that, I decided to go more organic with my lawn. There is nothing that deals with a weed problem better than healthy grass. I did have a couple of places where the grass would not grow, but those Roundup eating weeds loved.
I looked at my options, and chose a herbicidal soap product. I applied it following the directions, and within a couple of hours, the weeds had die, never to return. Of course, I did plant a shade loving ground cover pretty quickly, too.
I haven't turned back since, even though I have moved to a new state. I don't use chemical fertilizers, either. And yes, I have a pretty darn good-looking lawn.
qb
(5,924 posts)one that actually likes its "rootworm resistant" GM corn.
http://digitaljournal.com/article/321416
Viva_La_Revolution
(28,791 posts)Unnatural Selection: Why Encouraging Weeds May Be Good Farming (Video)
http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/unnatural-selection-why-encouraging-weeds-may-be-good-farming-video.html
Your Weedy Lawn Is A Good Thing
http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/organic/your-weedy-lawns-is-a-good-thing.htm
Why weeds are good, gum trees bad and modern farming practices cause global warming
http://blogs.abc.net.au/sa/2012/03/why-weeds-are-good-gum-trees-bad-and-modern-farming-practices-cause-global-warming.html
It's taken me 6 years, but my previously dead, clay, chemically sprayed brown backyard is now green, growing flowers, weeds, vegies, fruits, and bugs and birds. Almost zero pest problems, other than slugs. I can look out now and see life and feel recharged instead of anxious and depressed. Now birds wake me up every morning instead of freeway traffic.
Weeds are good