Concerns a Weed Scientist Might Have About Herbicide-Tolerant Crops

There are three primary activities that characterize the discipline of Weed Science. These activities are weed technology, weed biology, and the ethics of weed control. Each of these activities needs to be considered as herbicide-tolerant crops (HTCs) are introduced. HTCs are the most recent refinement in the existing technology to control weeds. The potential benefits from the improved weed control must be weighed against possible increased costs of production and potential for genes that control herbicide tolerance to escape into non-tolerant plant populations. These questions about herbicide resistance are primarily technological and biological. They demonstrate the paucity of information in Weed Science on weed genetics, gene flow, fitness, and other aspects of weed-crop population dynamics. Other questions about HTCs are ethical. They require that we ask who benefits from the technology and what are the economic, ecological, and social consequences of it.