The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved the herbicide Dicamba from chemical company Bayer for five years, despite heavy criticism.
The approval also applies to the products XtendiMax and Engenia from Bayer and BASF, and Tavium Plus from Swiss company Syngenta. However, the EPA's decision is controversial.
In the US, Dicamba had been banned after crop damage was reported during the June harvest following legal procedures. A court in San Francisco confirmed that the EPA had made errors during the earlier 2018 approval and had rescinded the herbicide’s registration.
The chemical pesticide made headlines after farmers reported damage to their crops caused when Dicamba drifted from their neighbors’ fields onto their own, including crops that were not genetically modified.
EPA chief Wheeler emphasized that the current approval comes hand in hand with new control measures intended to ensure safe and environmentally friendly use of the products.
Dicamba has long been a source of turmoil and conflict in agriculture. The herbicide destroys not only weeds but also crops—as long as they are not from genetically modified seeds.
The fact that Dicamba drifts into adjacent fields and damages crops there has led to bitter disputes among American farmers for years. The American seed giant Monsanto, which was acquired by Bayer in 2018, was one of the producers of Dicamba.