Desiccation
While glyphosate is most often associated with bioengineered crops (i.e., Roundup-Ready), it is also being used as a desiccant in crops that are classified as Non-GMO.
Desiccants are used shortly before harvesting to poison crops in such a way as to stop or slow further growth. They can simplify mechanical harvesting and help make the crops more uniform, and is an alternative to windrowing, an older technique used to speed up ripening and make harvested crops more uniform.
Crops that are often desiccated prior to harvesting include:1
- Grains such as barley, oats, rice, sorghum (millet), and wheat.
- Flax
- Cotton
- Legumes that include beans (common, fava, garbanzos, etc.), lentils, peas, and soybeans
- Corn
- Mustard
- Oil Seed (canola, linseed, rapeseed, safflower, sunflower, and soy)
- Potato
- Sugarcane — Note that many people opt for cane sugar to avoid genetically engineered Sugar Beets, without knowing this fact which might otherwise be a consideration.
- Sunflower
See also: