Genetically modified sugar beet

rdf:langString Genetically modified sugar beet

rdf:langString A genetically modified sugar beet is a sugar beet that has been genetically engineered by the direct modification of its genome using biotechnology. Commercialized GM sugar beets make use of a glyphosate-resistance modification developed by Monsanto and KWS Saat. These glyphosate-resistant beets, also called 'Roundup Ready' sugar beets, were developed by 2000, but not commercialized until 2007. For international trade, sugar beets have a Maximum Residue Limit of glyphosate of 15 mg/Kg at harvest. As of 2016, GMO sugar beets are grown in the United States and Canada. In the United States, they play an important role in domestic sugar production. Studies have concluded the sugar from glyphosate-resistant sugar beets is molecularly identical to and so has the same nutritional value as sugar from conventional (non-GMO) sugar beets. The United States imports 30% of its sugar, while the remaining 70% is extracted from domestically grown sugar beets and sugarcane. More than 1 million acres of sugar beets are cultivated annually in the United States, with a market value at harvest exceeding $1 billion. GM sugar beets are grown by more than 95 percent of the nation's sugar beet farmers. Of the domestically grown sugar crops, over half of the extracted sugar is derived from sugar beets, and the rest from sugarcane. The glyphosate sprayed on GM beet fields significantly reduces weed growth, and thus has decreased the demand for migrant workers, who have historically been employed as seasonal workers to pull weeds on conventional sugar beet farms in the United States. According to Monsanto, more than 37,000 acres of Roundup Ready sugar beet have been planted in Canada.