Some European Union (EU) politicians must not have given much consideration to the corn flakes they eat for breakfast, given their views on glyphosate.
Invariably, a high proportion of what is in their bowls emanates from genetically modified (GM) maize varieties.
And, wait for it, all of these crops will have been blanket-treated with glyphosate, in order to control weeds throughout their growing phases.
Given this reality, it’s hard to work out why our elected EU representatives hold such an anti-glyphosate perspective.
Glyphosate
Meanwhile, last March saw the European Chemicals Association (ECHA) recommend that the current EU licensing requirements, where glyphosate is concerned, should be maintained.
For the record, ECHA is an independent, regulatory authority on the safety of chemicals.
Residues for the herbicide in question are regularly tested for in Ireland and in the rest of the EU.
From what I can gather, the track record of the farming industry in using the chemical has been extremely robust up to this point.
It is hard not to conclude that a significant number of EU politicians have a very ‘green agenda’, and they are using the glyphosate issue as an easy card to play in this regard.
But someone should tell them that there is no biological alternative to glyphosate. It is the only show in town regarding its current use within production agriculture.
Tillage
For Irish tillage farmers to face the prospect of glyphosate being removed from their crop management toolkits would be akin to have them operating a tractor or combine with one arm tied behind their backs – it’s just not on.
I would also go one step further and suggest that the introduction of such a ban would be the last straw that breaks the back of Irish cereal growers.
In fact, one could argue that with the ever-growing threat of blackgrass and resistant brome varieties coming our way, the need for glyphosate in Ireland will actually increase over the coming years.
But let’s get back to our ‘green’ politicians – so-called in Europe. I feel their views on the glyphosate issue are extremely one-sided.
They take no cognisance of the fact that large quantities of food are imported into Europe, which was produced using glyphosate-based management systems.
So, if the same people are up for banning the herbicide in this part of the world, why did they not call for a ban on the import of glyphosate-affected food with similar vehemence?
Such a stance smacks of total hypocrisy.