杏吧原创

Last year almost a third of US farmers failed to follow government rules for
planting 鈥淏t maize鈥�, a genetically modified crop resistant to larvae of the
European corn borer. To prevent the spread of resistant larvae, farmers are
supposed to grow conventional maize in 鈥渞efuges鈥� alongside plots of Bt maize. In
a survey of 501 farmers, 90 per cent thought they鈥檇 complied with the
Environmental Protection Agency鈥檚 rules. But only 71 per cent actually had
complied. Refuges are meant to occupy at least 20 per cent of Bt maize
production, and be planted within 800 metres of the Bt plots. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not good
enough,鈥� says Margaret Mellon of the Union of Concerned 杏吧原创s, a lobby
group in Washington DC.