Mexico’s Agriculture Ministry has proposed rules for a gradual phaseout of glyphosate, the active ingredient in herbicides that have drawn health concerns and criticism for their wide use on crops genetically modified to tolerate them. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has long objected to glyphosate and to transgenic crops generally, yet his cabinet is deeply divided on the issue. The rules are contained in a proposed decree which was published in December and states in part: “Until January 31, 2024, a transition period will be established to achieve the total substitution of glyphosate.” The rules are winning praise from organic farmers and environmentalists, but have angered agribusiness. Large-scale Mexican farmers primarily use glyphosate in conjunction with herbicide-tolerant transgenic varieties of soy and cotton, whose commercial cultivation is permitted in Mexico. They also have pushed hard over the years for government approval of gene-altered corn varieties. President... [Log in to read more]