The concept of sustainability applied to agriculture has developed mainly as a result of growing
awareness of negative impacts of intensive agriculture production systems on the environment and
the quality of life. Intensive agriculture systems are based on genetically uniform crops which can be
susceptible to various diseases and insect pests. Genetically modified (GM) crops have been developed
in an attempt to expedite the process of crop improvement for food quality and solve some of the
problems associated with commercial agriculture, including disease and weed management. The
introduction of GM crops into agriculture has opened a great debate about their safety with respect
to possible long-term adverse effects on the environment, human health and sustainability of this
new agricultural technology. Environmental safety issues focus on the direct or indirect effects of GM
crops on non-target organisms and the transfer of GM traits to populations of wild plants via gene
flow. Food safety concerns relate to the potential allergenicity of food products. Herbicide tolerant
Roundup Ready (RR) soybean is the dominant GM crop occupying 50% of the global biotech area. It is
one of seven transgenic soybean lines authorized for the EU market, none of those for cultivation. The
most serious problem for farmers who grow RR soybean is the outbreak of glyphosate-resistant weeds,
or “superweeds” which can lead to overuse of selective broad-leaf herbicides or herbicide mixtures