Title: "The insect apocalypse in the Anthropocene": genetic engineering and herbicides at work for capitalist monoculture
[By Ian Angus alencontre.org April 28, 2023] ... For decades, proponents of genetically modified (GM) foods have promised miracle crops that would save lives and feed the world. Cereals that thrive in times of drought. Better nutrition, including rice containing vitamins that preserve eyesight. Apples that don't rot. Reduced CO2 emissions. More food on less land. According to the pro-biotechnology International Service for the Acquisition of Agribiotech Applications (ISAAA), the benefits of genetic modification are so great that the area under GM crops has risen from zero in 1996 to 190.4 million hectares in 2019, "the fastest adopted agricultural technology" in history [2}.
Yet, if we look at ISAAA statistics, we find that 85% of the area devoted to GM crops is in just four countries: the United States, Brazil, Argentina and Canada. And about 99% of all genetic modifications to commercial crops today fall into just two categories, herbicide tolerance and insect resistance – they have nothing to do with improving feed quality. In addition, soybeans and corn, which account for more than 90% of genetically modified crops, are mainly used to produce animal feed and biofuels, not to feed hungry people.
The main results of genetic engineering in agriculture have been the expansion of monocultures in North and South America, the increased use of chemical poisons, and increased profits for the handful of companies that dominate the production of agricultural chemicals and genetically modified seeds. The impact of genetically modified crops and associated pesticides on human health is much debated, but this article focuses on their role in creating massive monocultures that destroy life.
As we have seen, two characteristics of industrial agriculture are at the origin of the insect apocalypse: the massive use of pesticides and the destruction of habitats. Billions of six-legged animals are killed every year by "chemical poisons" that are supposed to protect crops. In addition, large-scale monocultures – single-crop farms – deprive them of food and places to live and reproduce. Both are aspects of the so-called green revolution, that is, the increase in production through methods that have damaged the environment and reduced biodiversity.
In the 1990s, a second, more destructive phase of industrial agriculture began, which could be called the genetic revolution. Genetically modified seeds have changed the game, significantly expanding the area devoted to monocultures harmful to insects. The transition was initiated in 1996 by St. Louis-based chemical company Monsanto. (Missouri), whose most important product is the weedkiller Roundup.
The term "weed" is not a scientific category. A weed is an unwanted plant, growing in the wrong place, competing with more sought-after species for available space, nutrients, water and sunlight. Traditionally, farmers limited weed growth through alternative crops, smoking and frequent crop rotation, but physical uprooting was also required to kill weeds and prevent them from contaminating the crop. For millennia, hoeing weeds has been a necessary and laborious part of agriculture. This is still the case in much of the world.
In the early twentieth century, some farmers in Europe and North America used sulfuric acid and arsenic compounds to kill weeds, but chemical applications did not become common until the late 1940s, when 2,4-D (2,4-Dichloroquinazoline), a plant-destroying chemical developed by the U.S. military as a biological weapon, was made available to all [3]. It was soon joined by other synthetic herbicides, including 2,4,5-T, dicamba and triclopyr, as fundamental weapons in what Rachel Carson called "the chemical barrage against the fabric of life" [4]. They were widely adopted, writes Jennifer Clapp, because they facilitated agriculture.
