Abstract
Recent advances in molecular genetics, plant physiology, and biochemistry have opened up the new biotechnology of herbicide resistant crops (HRCs). Herbicide resistant crops have been characterized as the solution for many environmental problems associated with modern crop production, being described as powerful tools for farmers that may increase production options. We are concerned that these releases are occurring in the absence of forethought about their impact on agroecosystems, the broader landscape, and the rural and urban economies and cultures. Many of the benefits and risks associated with HRCs are not apparent to either the public, farmers, policy makers, or the scientific community. HRC technology raises moral issues in three areas: our duties toward the natural environment; our political and economic responsibilities to each other; and our communal character as one generation among many. We also need a rational basis on which to make evaluations of this new biotechnology. The technical aspects of their release require a logical guide to the ecological, environmental, and biological effects the release might have in sustainable agroecosystems. The initial step should include an assessment of the intrinsic qualities of the crop, the herbicide, and the resistance mechanisms. The second step should include an assessment of effects associated with population ecology, population genetics, environmental degradation, consumer health, and farm economic viability due to the resistant crop-herbicide pair. Herbicides have been used in crop production for nearly a half a century. There has been a tremendous increase in the use of these chemicals in that time. Society has seen the use of these chemicals not only help to feed many people, but also to bring costs not anticipated before the introduction of the chemicals. We need to draw on that long history of use and learn the lessons it can provide us as we approach the introduction and commercialization of the next generation of weed control technology, herbicide resistant crops. We also need to reflect on the lessons we missed during that half century because we spend more time imagining the possible benefits that would come from the technology than scrutinizing the possible harm.
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Additional information
Jack Dekker is a weed biologist in the Agronomy Department at the Iowa State University, conducting research on the physiological, genetic, and biochemical mechanisms of herbicide resistance in plants. He also serves as Chairperson of the Herbicide Resistant Weed Committee of the Weed Science Society of America.
Gary Comstock is a philosopher of religion and an ethicist in the Philosophy Department at the Iowa State University. He has written several articles on ethics and agricultural biotechnology, including “The Case Against bGH,” “The Costs and Benefits of bGH May Not Be Distributed Fairly,” “Genetically Engineered Herbicide Resistance,” and “Should We Manipulate the Genome of Domestic Hogs?” He serves as Coordinator of the Bioethics Program at Iowa State University.
Journal Paper No. J-14685 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa. Project No. 2993.
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Dekker, J., Comstock, G. Ethical and environmental considerations in the release of herbicide resistant crops. Agric Hum Values 9, 31–43 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02217919
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02217919