El primer caso de resistencia al glifosato en Nueva Zelanda se ha confirmado en el raigrás anual en un viñedo de Marlborough. El descubrimiento se realizó como parte de un proyecto liderado por la * Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) y financiado por el Sustainable Farming Fund (SFF).
Dr. Trevor James from AgResearch and Dr. Kerry Harrington of Massey University led the case, which was confirmed by SFF’s Avoiding Glyphosate Resistance project. Dr. James explains that the Marlborough case was identified thanks to the grower’s report to an unnamed chemical company.
“In the autumn of 2011 we received a call from a chemical company representative stating that glyphosate was not killing all the weeds, specifically some grasses, on the vineyard,” James stated,” We obtained some of the surviving plants and grew them on in the glasshouse until some of them set seed in autumn 2012. The seed we collected was then grown in the spring of 2012, and these plants treated with various rates of glyphosate. We found that nearly half the tested plants showed symptoms of glyphosate resistance.”
Como el glifosato es el herbicida que se usa con más frecuencia en la agricultura de Nueva Zelanda, Mike Parker, gerente de proyecto del equipo Evitar la resistencia al glifosato, dice que el hallazgo debe considerarse una llamada de atención para todos los usuarios del herbicida de amplio espectro.
El CEO de FAR, Nick Pyke, dice que aunque en la actualidad es un caso aislado, es una advertencia para los usuarios de glifosato de que deben ser conscientes del peligro de desarrollar resistencia y tener cuidado con cómo lo usan, ya que es el herbicida más respetuoso con el medio ambiente. mercado, y las repercusiones de perderlo serían graves.
“Environmental repercussions would include the increased use of, and dependence on, less environmentally friendly herbicide options; greater dependence on more intensive cultivation leading to greater degradation of soil structure and soil health; and the risk of some weeds spreading as the cost of controlling them would increase.
“On-farm the impacts would include reduced income, due to increased chemical costs and reduced crop yields. Removing glyphosate from the suite of available chemicals would also increase the resistance pressure on other herbicides,” Pyke concluded.