Since the end of January, the United States' Environmental Protection Agency has been inviting comments on its draft proposal to tackle increasing insect infestations in GM maize engineered to store a naturally ocurring insecticide. After the consultation period ends on April 15, the EPA "will finalise appropriate measures to address the issue of corn rootworm resistance to Bt corn" - the short name of maize seeds genetically modified to produce their own supply of the proteins normally derived by Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria in the soil. Bt maize is toxic to rootworm, but not to humans or other life forms, and around 80% of the US maize crop is estimated to be planted using such GM seeds.

According to the EPA, corn rootworn has recently been observed to infest Bt maize crops in Iowa and Illinois. The agency has defined a high-risk "red zone" stretching across the US Corn Belt in those two states as well as Nebraska and parts of Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota.

In those areas, the EPA is proposing "to require crop rotation, use of corn varieties containing more than one Bt protein, or other Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies and stewardship for corn rootworm". This would mean that areas where farmers plant GM maize year after year would be forced to change their farming practices radically, for example by rotating it with soybean. The alternative husbandry techniques proposed by the authorities also include restrictions on pesticide use when GM crops fail to keep the rootworm at bay. The proposed regulations also provide for better detection and response mechanisms when resistance occurs.

The National Corn Growers Association has submitted comments to oppose the most radical proposals. "We cannot support mandatory rotation. In specific situations, rotation out of corn is not economically feasible and threatens a grower or landowner’s freedom to operate", the NCGA wrote.

Individual farmers, too, have expressed their concerns. "The use of chemical to treat corn rootworms is vital to our operation. There are escapes with seed treatments of rootworms that are picked up by the chemicals used. This helps eliminate the resistance issue the we are facing," South Dakota farmer Dennis LeBrun wrote in response to the public consultation.

Other members of the public, including academics, have supported the EPA's proposed restrictions on GM seeds and pesticides to tackle pest resistance.