Sudden Death Fusarium and Glyphosate

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From:  cavegrl777@a...

Date:  Fri Dec 12, 2003  6:11 pm

Subject:  Roundup Ready Sudden Death Syndrome

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ISIS Press Release 30/11/03

Round-up Ready Sudden Death Syndrome

************************************

Prof. Joe Cummins finds evidence that Roundup Ready causes sudden death and

other diseases by boosting fusarium in the soil.

Sources for this report are available in the ISIS members site

(http://www.i-sis.org.uk/full/RRSDFull.php). Full details here

(http://www.i-sis.org.uk/membership.php)

For several years, scientists have investigated the impact of herbicides,

particularly glyphosate (Round-up) on soil microbial communities. These

investigations revealed increased colonization of the roots of Round-up Ready

(RR) soya

with the fungus Fusarium in midwestern fields during 1997 to 2000. At the

same time, large scale cropping with herbicide-tolerant cultivars was found to

increase soil-borne plant pathogens; Brazilian soils showed increased microbial

activity for several seasons. There is clear evidence that repeated glyphosate

applications over several seasons increases soil-borne pathogens.

During the first year of glyphosate application on RR soya, a severe sudden

death syndrome epidemic occurred in several RR cultivars. The RR cultivars were

susceptible to sudden death from infection by the fungus Fusarium solani.

Sudden death syndrome of soya is a disease of economic importance in North

America. Follow-up studies showed that different cultivars of soya showed

different

levels of resistance to the sudden death fungus and suggest that glyphosate

tolerant and non-tolerant cultivars responded similarly to infection by Fusarium

solani.

According to Bigwood (www.mycoherbicide.net), a scientist from

Agriculture Canada, Myriam Fernadez, had reported as yet unpublished studies

showing

that wheat fields that had been treated with glyphosate had elevated levels

fusarium head blight, a serious disease of wheat.

Andy Coghlan of the New Scientist further reported:

"The potential problem was spotted a few years ago by Myriam Fernandez of the

Semiarid Prairie Agricultural Research Centre run by Agriculture and

Agri-Food Canada in Swift Current, Saskatchewan. She noticed that in some fields

where

glyphosate had been applied the previous year, wheat appeared to be worse

affected by fusarium head blight - a devastating fungal disease that damages

grain and turns it pink. In Europe alone, fusarium head blight destroys a fifth

of

wheat harvests. The fungi that cause the disease also produce toxins that can

kill humans and animals. In a follow-up study, Fernandez measured levels of

the blight in wheat fields. "We found higher levels of blight within each

tillage category when glyphosate had been used in the previous year," says her

colleague Hanson. And his lab study showed that Fusarium graminearum and

F.

avenaceum, the fungi that cause head blight, grow faster when glyphosate-based

weedkillers are added to the nutrient medium."

Unfortunately, Agriculture Canada has not fast tracked publication of such

important results when they are advocating registration of RR wheat.

In conclusion, there seems to be a clear link between the use of herbicide

and accumulation of pathogenic fungi in the soil. The RR soya cultivars fared

poorly under the impact of the sudden death fungus. Wheat fields treated with

Round-up appear to be sensitive to the head blight disease. Such findings should

have triggered prompt and extensive reviews on the use of Roundup and Roundup

tolerant GM crops by our North American regulators. Instead of which, the two

governments of North America appear to be advocating registration of RR wheat.

===================================================

This article can be found on the I-SIS website at

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/RRSD.php

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