Courtesy of: NYTimes – https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/09/16/business/GMO1/GMO1-superJumbo.jpg
THE PROMISES of GMOs
The promise of genetic modification was twofold: by making crops immune to the effects of weedkillers and inherently resistant to many pests, GMOs were expected to:
a) grow so robustly that they would become indispensable to feeding the world’s growing population, and at the same time
b) require fewer applications of sprayed pesticides
Comparing results on two continents, using independent data as well as academic and industry research, shows how the technology has fallen short of the promise.
- UNIMPRESSIVE YIELDS
Genetic modification in the United States and Canada has NOT accelerated increases in crop yields or led to an overall reduction in the use of chemical pesticides. An analysis by The Times using United Nations data showed that the United States and Canada have gained no discernible advantage in yields — food per acre — when measured against Western Europe. [1]
The Times compared Western Europe with Canada in terms of rapeseed production. Despite rejecting genetically modified crops, Western Europe has maintained a lead over Canada in rapeseed yields. While that is partly because different varieties are grown in the two regions, the trend lines in the relative yields have NOT shifted in Canada’s favor since the introduction of G.M. crops, the data shows. [1]
For corn, The Times compared the United States with Western Europe. Over three decades, the trend lines between the two barely deviate. And sugar beets, a major source of sugar, have shown stronger yield growth recently in Western Europe than the United States. [1]
Jack Heinemann, a professor at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, did a pioneering 2013 study comparing trans-Atlantic yield trends, using United Nations data. Western Europe, he said, “hasn’t been penalized in any way for not making genetic engineering one of its biotechnology choices.” [1]
2. HIGH PESTICIDE USE
At the same time, herbicide use has increased in the United States, even as major crops like corn, soybeans and cotton have been converted to modified varieties. And the United States has fallen behind Europe’s biggest producer, France, in reducing the overall use of pesticides, which includes both herbicides and insecticides. [1]
“Currently available G.M. crops would not lead to major yield gains in Europe,” he said. And regarding herbicide-resistant crops in general: “I don’t consider this to be the miracle type of technology that we couldn’t live without.”, says Matin Qaim, a researcher at Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Germany,
PRESENT & FUTURE
Newer genetically modified crops claim to do many things, such as protecting against crop diseases and making food more nutritious. We cannot believe these claims at face value, as previous claims have just NOT stacked up.
Shifting crucial crops like corn, soybeans, cotton and rapeseed almost entirely to genetically modified varieties in many parts of the world is a huge marketing opportunity but also a major threat to our health. [2]
REFERENCES
[1] Doubts About the Promised Bounty of Genetically Modified Crops