Are Farmers to Blame for Resistant Pests?

And the same 5% refuge plot evenly distributed from a Refuge-in-a-Bag:

Source: FarmProgress.

Just for fun, Dow Agrosciences invited farmers to that plot (before painting the plants) to see whether they could pick out the non-hybrid plants. As it turns out, the task is nearly impossible. The only difference — genes for Bt toxin — are not discernible to the human eye.

Foolish bottom line
How do we know combining seeds in one bag will work? As Tabashnik noted in his study, regions that followed refuge rules (Australia, American southwest) had virtually no cases of resistant pests. Those that didn’t (South Africa, Puerto Rico, India) weren’t so lucky. Without the new bags, farmers would have the option of noncompliance (even by mistake), which would run the risk of pest resistance, which would run the risk of losing biotechnology’s valuable advantages. Farmers, investors, and anyone else who enjoys, well, food, should applaud seed companies for acting quickly. How’s that for a change?

The article Are Farmers to Blame for Resistant Pests? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Maxx Chatsko.

Fool contributor Maxx Chatsko has no position in any stocks mentioned. Check out his personal portfolio or his CAPS page, or follow him on Twitter, @BlacknGoldFool, to keep up with his writing on energy, bioprocessing, and biotechnology.The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

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