WEED MANAGEMENT: ALTERNATIVES TO THE USE OF GLYPHOSATE Pesticide Action

This report also covers topics such as the use of glyphosate in the EU and globally, general pesticide sales in the EU, and the impacts of glyphosate on soil and environment. [...] SALES OF GLYPHOSATE AND OTHER HERBICIDES IN THE EU According to the global organisation Transparency Market Research, Europe held around 16.6% of the global glyphosate market in 201219, and in 2017, glyphosate represented 33% of the total herbicide market in the EU (Antier et al., 2020b). [...] 22 As a consequence of the high levels glyphosate usage, the occurrence of its residues and metabolites in the environment can result in the contamination of drinking water and food products, where the quantity of the residues may exceed the allowed safety limits. [...] Between 10% to 40% of the photosynthates, and therefore the energy that plants capture from the sun, are pushed out of their roots in the form of simple carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins to feed the microbes that live in a mutualistic symbiosis around the roots – an area called the “rhizosphere”. [...] When the cash crop is harvested, the subsidiary crop is released from the suppressive competition of the cash crop and grows rapidly, covering the soil and preventing germination and growth of weeds.