Armyworms and Corn Earworms Gmo

Genetically Modified Corn and Lettuce Corn is the most popular food in the US. The US is the biggest country that uses GMO. Ohio and Indiana are the states that produce the most corn. This means that of course, they have the biggest problem with corn earworms and armyworms. Earworms and armyworms are bugs that basically destroy crops. Corn earworms are the ones that mostly destroy corn as you can tell by the name.

Armyworms are the ones that destroy any plant really including lettuce, beans, corn leaves etc. So basically the issue here is that both of these bugs eat corn which is a problem because 1/3 of the US is used for growing corn. How they Genetically Engineered Corn and Lettuce Scientists insert a bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis which contains gene that has pesticides in it. They insert in into the corn and the lettuce or any other crops and when the pests come to eat the crops they will be poisoned and die. In the US there are 11 approved genetically modified crops. They are: Soybeans Cotton Canola Sugar beets Alfalfa Papaya Yellow squash Zucchini Apple Potato Corn Advantages and Disadvantages of GMO Advantages: Can have larger amounts of food with fewer seeds Can get rid of pests that eat our crops Can make food grow faster Disadvantages: You don’t know what has been put in the food (Chemicals) It could be toxic/poisonous for us Not healthy/good for you Has different chemicals in it that we don’t know of. Overall, GMO can be good and can be bad. It can be good because you could have a bigger proportion of one plant, you can get rid of pests that eat our crops and you can make the food grow faster. It can also be bad because you might have to insert chemicals into the crops so they can have a certain trait, It is very bad for us and some of the crops that have been genetically modified are toxic and poisonous for us.

How they Genetically Modify Corn, Lettuce and other crops Scientists insert a bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis which contains gene that has pesticides in it. They insert in into the corn or any other crops and so when the pests come to eat the crops they will be poisoned. Corn Earworms and Army Worms eating the crops. These pests will eat holes in leaves and the plant. All you can do after that is pick them and destroy them. A Corn Earworm is a green, red or white caterpillar with a spine about 1½ inches long. Therefore you must spray the plants with Spray pyrethrum or rotenone. Or you can spray with Bacillus thuringiensis. Armyworm only eat things that are red, green or yellow. They eat in the night. Also spray them with Bacillus thuringiensis.