Title:
Transgenic Crops Get Good Marks in General in US
Study
Description: This is
a VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
See text below
Text:
American farmers first planted genetically
engineered crops in nineteen ninety-six. Today
eighty percent of the cropland for soybeans, maize
and cotton in the United States is transgenic.
Genetic engineering adds or changes genes in a plant
to produce desired qualities. The United States is
one of twenty-five countries where farmers planted
genetically engineered crops in two thousand nine.
An agricultural biotechnology group says planting
decreased in Europe. But the amount of cropland
planted with the crops rose by an estimated seven
percent worldwide.The National Research Council,
part of the National Academies in Washington,
recently published a study. The study examined how
genetically engineered crops have affected farming
in the United States. It found that many farmers
have better harvests, better weed control and fewer
losses from insect damage compared to traditional
crops. LaReesa Wolfenbarger is a University of
Nebraska biology professor and a member of the
committee that wrote the report. She says they found
that genetically engineered crops can be better for
the environment. For example, she noted that crops
designed to resist damage by glyphosate need fewer
pesticides that are more toxic to the soil.
Glyphosate is a chemical used in Round-Up and other
weed killing products. But some farmers have used so
much glyphosate that a number of kinds of weeds can
now resist it. David Ervin of Portland State
University in Oregon led the committee that wrote
the report. Professor Ervin says this means that
some farmers are again using the more toxic
herbicides to control weeds. He says the problem
needs immediate attention. Earlier this year, a
professor at the University of Western Australia
commented on the overuse of glyphosate. Stephen
Powles wrote about it in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences in the United States.
He said glyphosate is as important in worldwide food
production as penicillin is in medicine for fighting
disease. He called for better use of glyphosate-resistant
crop technology. And thats the VOA Special English
Agriculture Report. You can comment on our reports
at our website, voaspecialenglish.com. You can also
get our stories on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube at
VOA Learning English.
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Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
