How could GMOs affect land and water?

Expert response from Community Manager

Moderator for GMOAnswers.com

Friday, 16/10/2015 13:12

Thank you for your question. We’ll first explore how GMOs affect land and waterand then we’ll look into how GMOs affect soil health.

GM crops can help farmers make better use of land and water resources.

GMOs or biotech crops can provide substantial environmental and economic benefits in terms of land and water use. Jim Gaffney, Ph.D. at DuPont Pioneer provides his perspective on the future effects of GMOs. His full response is available here, and an excerpt is below:

“Biotechnology also can help farmers grow more with less. Analysis of U.S. Department of Agriculture data show global corn acres have increased 31 percent since 1981, while production increased 93 percent. Approximately 240 million ‘virtual’ corn acres have been created in the last 30 years. That trend has to continue if we’re to meet growing demand, despite conditions like drought, poor soil nutrient levels and insect pressure – all of which many experts predict will present an even greater challenge in the future. Therefore, the next generations of biotech crops are being developed to include more drought resistant varieties available in more geographies, crops that can perform when soil nutrients are less than optimal and those that can defend against intensifying stress from diseases and pests.

Graham Brookes has conducted research with related findings. He is an agricultural economist with PG Economics Ltd, UK, which specializes in examining the economic and environmental impact of new technology use in agriculture, and he conducts annual research on the effect of GM crops around the world. Brookes’ full response to a related question is available here. Below is an excerpt from his response:

“GM crops are allowing farmers to grow more without using additional land. If crop biotechnology had not been available to the (18 million) farmers using the technology in 2013, maintaining global production levels at the 2013 levels would have required additional plantings of 5.8 million ha of soybeans, 8.3 million ha of corn, 3.5 million ha of cotton and 0.5 million ha of canola. This total area requirement is equivalent to 11 percent of the arable land in the US, or 29 percent of the arable land in Brazil or 32 percent of the cereal area in the EU (28).”

How do GMOs affect water?

GMOs can enable farmers to till less often, leading to improved soil health and water retention, reduced runoff, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.  Stephen Adams, Chemistry Regulatory Affairs Manager at Monsanto Company, has also written about what practices farmers use to avoid pesticides entering ground and surface water, including proper chemical handling, and using vegetative buffer strips and conservation tillage.

GM crops can also contribute to water conservation through the use of conservation tillage, which increases soil moisture and water retention and can reduce the need for supplemental irrigation, and also through drought tolerance traits.

Dr. Alan McHughen, Cooperative Extension Biotechnology Specialist at the University of California, Riverside, explains:

“Drought has visited human populations since the beginning of agriculture, and our ancestral and current agricultural scientists have been developing new breeds with better water use efficiency traits and other strategies (e.g. irrigation) to fight the ravages of drought. But we’ve reached the limit of what we can do with conventional technologies and must find new mechanisms. Biotechnology is one obvious tool to apply by offering better drought resistance genes, stress response genes and associated traits.”

How do GM crops impact soil health?

GM crops can help keep agricultural soils healthy and productive. For example, herbicide tolerant GM crops enable farmers to till less often, leading to improved soil health and water retention, reduced runoff, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The organic matter and moisture that remains in the soil helps crops better withstand periods of drought, and less erosion means that run-off and leaching in fields can be reduced. Read more about GMOs’ effect on the soil health here.

You can read more about how herbicides used with herbicide resistant crops interact with microbial communities in agricultural soils here. Additionally, it is important to note that GM crops do not adversely affect soil biodiversity, as explained in this response.Extension specialist Shawn Askew also addresses whether herbicide resistant crops contribute to higher usage of herbicides in this response.

Expert response from Community Manager

Moderator for GMOAnswers.com

Friday, 16/10/2015 13:12

Thank you for your question. We’ll first explore how GMOs affect land and waterand then we’ll look into how GMOs affect soil health.

GM crops can help farmers make better use of land and water resources.

GMOs or biotech crops can provide substantial environmental and economic benefits in terms of land and water use. Jim Gaffney, Ph.D. at DuPont Pioneer provides his perspective on the future effects of GMOs. His full response is available here, and an excerpt is below:

“Biotechnology also can help farmers grow more with less. Analysis of U.S. Department of Agriculture data show global corn acres have increased 31 percent since 1981, while production increased 93 percent. Approximately 240 million ‘virtual’ corn acres have been created in the last 30 years. That trend has to continue if we’re to meet growing demand, despite conditions like drought, poor soil nutrient levels and insect pressure – all of which many experts predict will present an even greater challenge in the future. Therefore, the next generations of biotech crops are being developed to include more drought resistant varieties available in more geographies, crops that can perform when soil nutrients are less than optimal and those that can defend against intensifying stress from diseases and pests.

Graham Brookes has conducted research with related findings. He is an agricultural economist with PG Economics Ltd, UK, which specializes in examining the economic and environmental impact of new technology use in agriculture, and he conducts annual research on the effect of GM crops around the world. Brookes’ full response to a related question is available here. Below is an excerpt from his response:

“GM crops are allowing farmers to grow more without using additional land. If crop biotechnology had not been available to the (18 million) farmers using the technology in 2013, maintaining global production levels at the 2013 levels would have required additional plantings of 5.8 million ha of soybeans, 8.3 million ha of corn, 3.5 million ha of cotton and 0.5 million ha of canola. This total area requirement is equivalent to 11 percent of the arable land in the US, or 29 percent of the arable land in Brazil or 32 percent of the cereal area in the EU (28).”

How do GMOs affect water?

GMOs can enable farmers to till less often, leading to improved soil health and water retention, reduced runoff, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.  Stephen Adams, Chemistry Regulatory Affairs Manager at Monsanto Company, has also written about what practices farmers use to avoid pesticides entering ground and surface water, including proper chemical handling, and using vegetative buffer strips and conservation tillage.

GM crops can also contribute to water conservation through the use of conservation tillage, which increases soil moisture and water retention and can reduce the need for supplemental irrigation, and also through drought tolerance traits.

Dr. Alan McHughen, Cooperative Extension Biotechnology Specialist at the University of California, Riverside, explains:

“Drought has visited human populations since the beginning of agriculture, and our ancestral and current agricultural scientists have been developing new breeds with better water use efficiency traits and other strategies (e.g. irrigation) to fight the ravages of drought. But we’ve reached the limit of what we can do with conventional technologies and must find new mechanisms. Biotechnology is one obvious tool to apply by offering better drought resistance genes, stress response genes and associated traits.”

How do GM crops impact soil health?

GM crops can help keep agricultural soils healthy and productive. For example, herbicide tolerant GM crops enable farmers to till less often, leading to improved soil health and water retention, reduced runoff, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The organic matter and moisture that remains in the soil helps crops better withstand periods of drought, and less erosion means that run-off and leaching in fields can be reduced. Read more about GMOs’ effect on the soil health here.

You can read more about how herbicides used with herbicide resistant crops interact with microbial communities in agricultural soils here. Additionally, it is important to note that GM crops do not adversely affect soil biodiversity, as explained in this response.Extension specialist Shawn Askew also addresses whether herbicide resistant crops contribute to higher usage of herbicides in this response.