UK's first glyphosate-resistant weed discovered on Kent farm | herbicide

Scientists have identified glyphosate-resistant weeds for the first time on a British farm, raising concerns about the controversial herbicide.

Scientists at agricultural consultancy ADAS said they had identified glyphosate resistance in Italian ryegrass, an annual weed particularly affecting wheat fields in the UK, after examining reports from agronomists and seed samples from a farm in Kent. This is the first time glyphosate resistance in weeds has been discovered in the UK.

Glyphosate is the most intensively used herbicide in the world. In the UK it is used to prepare fields for sowing crops by removing all vegetation from the ground. It kills weeds by inhibiting EPSP synthase, an enzyme involved in plant growth, while leaving crops genetically modified to tolerate glyphosate without damaging them.

The herbicide has been linked to increased rates of cancer and was listed as a probable carcinogen by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2015.

Globally, we lose more crop yields to weeds than to pests and pathogens, said Paul Neve, professor of crop science at the University of Copenhagen. Herbicides are the most effective tools we have, and glyphosate is one of the most effective tools.

John Cussans, a scientist at ADAS, said the possibility of glyphosate resistance was a high-risk scenario, but because the industry as a whole depended on the herbicide, there was little risk of resistance spreading rapidly across UK farms.

But those expectations don't lead to complacency, Cussans said. We must focus on local biosecurity.

Helen Metcalfe, an agricultural ecologist at Rothamsted Research, said the case was also a warning sign for farmers to reduce their reliance on glyphosate.

She recommended that farmers build resilience to herbicide resistance by expanding the range of weed management practices and diversifying crop rotations. She said it is key that we act now to maintain safe management of these chemicals.

According to Cussans, the potential for glyphosate resistance to develop in UK fields could have devastating financial consequences for individual farmers in the UK.

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Cussans said the impact is very difficult for really small businesses to accept. Talking to individual farmers was quite painful for me personally. If you have a very small farm that is not very profitable, and you have aging parents who want to pass it on to their children, glyphosate resistance can be detected. It's about having tough conversations.

According to ADAS, 354 cases of glyphosate resistance have been identified worldwide across 57 species.

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