Re: Nov. 20 article "Critics dercy tax breaks as Monsanto plans Marana greenhouse"
It is not true that GMO cotton and corn have not lived up to expectations. In 1959 and 1960, as a young entomologist with the USDA, we treated thousands of acres of Pinal County cotton on a five-day schedule with DDT dust to control pink bollworm. That was the only way. I moved on to Iowa State University and researched insect pests of corn. One of the most devastating was the European corn borer. Five Midwestern universities and Monsanto conducted an array of regional studies using corn with or without genes of a bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis , (Bt corn) that affected only the European corn borer. These hybrids (GMO) work so well that the insect is now nearly eradicated. Yield of these GMO hybrids average 144.3 bushels per acre, while non GMO hybrids average 117.0 bushels per acre. GMO cotton has produced similar results for pink bollworm. The need of insecticide every five days is gone.
Dr. William Showers
Saddlebrooke Marana
