| Known as the Evergreen State, Washington has been raising wheat and barley for decades, striving to adapt the grain in order to protect a soil made fragile by the erosive agricultural practices of earlier times. The development of “agribusiness,” an alliance of agriculture, industry, science and financial investment, encourages technological innovations aimed at improving productivity and helps keep the United States the leading exporter of cereals (about 47% of the total). The use of biotechnologies, especially in the production of corn and soy, has led to the creation of varieties that are resistant to parasites and herbicides that are believed to increase yield. Controversial and prohibited because little is known about the extent of their side effects on health and the environment, the cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is nonetheless on the increase worldwide. Their cultivation is widely spread in Brazil, Argentina, India, Canada and especially in the United States, where 93% of the soy and 86% of the corn scattered are genetically modified.
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