Bayer AG agreed on Thursday to pay $6.9 million to settle claims by New York Attorney General Letitia James that it misled consumers by advertising Roundup weedkiller, which has been linked to cancer, as environmentally safe. The settlement resolves accusations that Bayer and its Monsanto unit failed to substantiate their repeated claims about Roundup products containing the active ingredient glyphosate. These included that Roundup "won't harm anything but weeds" and "do not pose a threat to the health of animal wildlife", as well as suggestions in since-removed YouTube videos that Roundup was safer than detergent and soap. James said the claims violated state laws against false and misleading advertising, and breached Monsanto's 1996 settlement with New York over its advertising of Roundup at the time. The settlement requires Bayer to stop advertising glyphosate-based Roundup as a safe and non-toxic product. Yahoo!Life

 

 

In Costa Rica, the use of herbicides and other pesticides is widespread. That is why the deputy of the Progressive Liberal Party, Kattia Cambronero, together with eight congressmen, has presented a bill that seeks the prohibition and regulation of pesticides that are highly dangerous to health and the environment. This law would prohibit agrochemicals such as glyphosate, chlorothalonil, paraquat, fipronil, dimethoate, carbosulfan, methyl bromide, streptomycin, gentamicin, oxytetracycline, kagugamycin, bromacil, carbofuran, endosulfan, aldicarb, and alachlor. Some of these are already prohibited by executive decree, but it is intended to raise this condition to the rank of law. The bill also includes a package of incentives to make it easier for Costa Rica's farmers to transition to more sustainable forms of production. The Costa Rica News

 

 

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) live in plant root cells. They provide essential plant inorganic nutrients to host plants, improving growth and yield in stressful conditions. A Dutch study found that arable fields under organic management had more AMF species than conventionally managed ones, with the difference becoming increasingly significant as time passed, following conversion to organic methods. The same study also showed that organic soils had mycorrhizal communities that were more diverse than farmed soils not under organic management, and more similar to those found under natural grasslands — a finding that was replicated in a Swiss study. Several other studies also found higher populations of mycorrhizae on organic farms, including another Swiss study that found a much greater proportion of plant roots colonised by mycorrhizal fungi in organic arable systems compared with conventional ones. In contrast, research in Finland showed that glyphosate reduces mycorrhizae. Sustainable Food Trust

 

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