Label GMO's Sacramento

New Study: While the environmental and health harm of pesticides are well-known, many people ask: Can agriculture thrive without them? The answer, backed by a groundbreaking 10-year study in France, is a resounding YES. And the benefits extend far beyond mere feasibility. Although some pesticide-free systems yields were below those of conventional farming, some reached equivalent levels or even exceeded them. Moreover, estimated income was twice, three times or more the French national minimum wage in 80% of the monitored arable land. This 10-year study, led by France’s national agronomic and environment research institute INRAE, analyzed nine farming systems - including arable and mixed farming - across various regions of France. The trials were designed collaboratively with farmers and agricultural advisers within experimental units. They used an approach based on agroecological crop protection principles (prevention of the diseases, reliance on plant biodiversity and improvement or protection of soil health), while mineral fertilizers were allowed. The goal was to use zero pesticides while reducing biotic stress (caused by pests, fungi and weeds), with rotations that varied in duration from 5 to 9 years. Even biological pesticides were not used. Under certain conditions, pesticide-free crops matched or even surpassed conventional yields. At the Auzeville farm, pesticide-free wheat production exceeded conventional production in 2018, reaching 500 g/m² whilst the conventional version remained at around 400 g/m². The same applies to the production of other crops. For example, pesticide-free durum wheat production reached conventional levels in 2017, while pesticide-free triticale production surpassed conventional production in 2016 and 2019. Yield objectives were achieved in many site-years, even for crops whose yield performance is considered to be highly dependent on pesticides, such as rapeseed, sugar beet, and potato.

We don't need toxic pesticides. Anyone that's telling you that our farms and food systems would collapse without toxic chemicals is either misinformed or is outright lying to you.

Read more: https://www.pan-europe.info/blog/pesticide-free-agriculture-profitable-and-boosts-yields-new-french-study-shows

The Wild American Chestnut: A Giant Returns... Without Genetic Engineering – WATCH THE SHORT FILM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebywGe-J730 -- This short film by our allies, Global Justice Ecology Project, documents the thousands of thriving, wild American chestnut trees on the land of renowned biologist Dr. Bernd Heinrich—contradicting decades of assumptions about the trees’ decline. The three generations of wild American chestnut trees growing on Heinrich's land, numbering in the thousands, are rewriting the story of a species once thought lost and declared "functionally extinct." Their resilience challenges the widespread claim that only genetic engineering can restore the species. Planted by blue jays and squirrels, these trees show us something far more hopeful: the wild American chestnut is already returning, naturally. “This film presents some good news about the wild American Chestnut and is a stark contrast to claims that genetically engineered trees are necessary to bring the species back,” said Anne Petermann, GJEP Executive Director. “It was stunning to see so many robust trees representing three generations of natural growth, when the GE approach has produced nothing but failures.”

We've been campaigning against the release of GMO chestnut trees for years. This should be the nail in the coffin for the GMO profiteers seeking USDA approval to release their GMO chestnut trees into our wild forests. No Thanks! Not wanted. Not needed. Not proven safe.