“contaminate and conquer” (Kurt Cobb)

preparing to spray a Monsanto product on food crops (Wikimedia)

Kurt Cobb:

Keep in mind that it is practically impossible to prevent all drift from a pesticide [or herbicide] applied to an outdoor field. And, even if Monsanto gets approval for its special dicamba formulation, that doesn’t mean that all farmers will use it when cheaper formulations may be available. Moreover, because drift may be impossible to stop, farmers growing soybeans or cotton may be forced to buy Monsanto’s dicamba-resistant seeds to protect themselves from damage. Farmers raising other crops that have no resistance may be faced with widespread damage to their fruits, vegetables and other crops.

On an analogous topic I wrote previously that Monsanto and other companies producing genetically engineered crops do not take genetic contamination of non-engineered crops very seriously. After all, if these companies can inflict enough contamination on other crops, they will be able to make it impossible to grow non-GMO (genetically modified organism) crops—which are becoming a threat to their market share. I would style this strategy as contaminate and conquer.

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