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Monday, 25/02/2019 18:53
This report released by PG Economics has found that over the last 20 years, crop biotechnology has significantly reduced agriculture’s environmental impact and stimulated economic growth in the 26 countries where the technology is used. Notably, it has helped alleviate poverty for 16.5 million, mostly smallholder farmers in developing countries, allowing them to send their children to school and improving their livelihoods altogether.
In this article, Amanda Zaluckyj, Farmer, Lawyer, Blogger, TheFarmersDaughterUSA.com, explains six ways GMOs benefit consumers, from making some foods safer to eat to cutting the cost of food.
GM crops are also an important tool to address world hunger. Janet Carpenter, Owner, J E Carpenter Consulting LLC M.S. Agricultural and Resource Economics, explains in this response,
“The challenge for agriculture worldwide is to increase production in a changing climate while reducing environmental impacts. GMOs have already increased yields and reduced the environmental impact of farming, where they have been deployed, especially in developing countries where hunger is more prevalent. However, there is much unrealized potential for available GMO technologies that could be beneficial in countries where they are not currently grown, as well as from technology that is still in development.
The genetic modification of crops, with traits such as pest and disease tolerance, stress tolerance and enhanced nutritional characteristics can contribute to meeting the challenge of feeding the world’s growing population in the decades to come.”
Additionally, in this response, Chris Barbey, PhD Student, Plant Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology explains,
“Food, clothes, and medicine are commonly made with the help of genetically engineered organisms. Certain medicines, like insulin, could only be mass-produced this way. Fiber for clothes is made less expensive thanks to GE cotton plants. You also PROBABLY sometimes eat plants with a few engineered genes, depending on where you live. But genetic engineering isn’t just for making new or better things. It’s also one of the best tools for discovering new science, and we owe much of the modern textbooks to what’s been learned using genetic engineering.”
We hope this answers your question, if you have any other questions about GMOs or biotechnology, please ask here!