GMOs and Agricultural Productivity

Saskia A.

In preparing for my weekly blog, I stumbled across several reports which focused on GM crops and their failure to yield, which is quite the contrary to Arielle’s post on “GMOs: The Self Sufficient Future.” It really had me questioning…

“Do GMOs Really Increase Agricultural Productivity?”

We’ve all heard that our rate of food production needs to be doubled by 2050 in order to meet the growing demand. Supporters of GM crops claim that we need this technology to feed the ever increasing population. One of the main arguments behind creating these crops is that farmers can use less herbicides and pesticides and that they are better for the environment and farmers because they produce more yields and in turn- greater profits.

So far there are four primary GM crops grown worldwide: corn, cotton, canola and soy. These have been genetically modified for insect resistance and herbicide tolerance. The claim that GMOs produce greater yields is based on the assumption that there will be less weeds and less insects, thus decreasing crop losses.

However, according to data from the EPA, the use of herbicides by farmers have increased over the past 9 years. The report also indicated that continuously spraying a pesticide creates weeds that are able to withstand more of that herbicide, resulting in superweeds.

Fig 1: The application of Glyphosate to corn, cotton, soy and the resulting number of resistant weeds. Source: USDA-NASS

At the center of this debate is also the pesticide glyphosate, which is the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Round Up. The use of glyphosate increased by 6,504% from 1991 to 2010 according to data from the USDA (Fig 1).  Plants are also absorbing the herbicide, which cannot be simply washed off. Because glyphosate is present in our food, we are likely accumulating low doses over time. 

Farmers also have not yet benefited from increased yields or rising incomes because of GM traits. The benefits that GM herbicide-tolerant crops may have offered farmers are now being reversed because of the cost of managing herbicide-resistant weeds.

Still think GM crops should be adopted by Trinidad and Tobago?

The main selling point for GM crops is that they would decrease pesticide use but this has not been realized.  Overall, I believe that non GM varieties are more effective and less costly for farmers. If the overall aim is to increase yields, there are more sustainable methods of agriculture that can be used.

References:

Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN). 2015. “Are GM crops better for farmers?” Report 4. November, 2015. Canada. Accessed October 30, 2017.

Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN). 2015. “Do we need GM Crops to feed the world?” Report 6. December, 2015. Canada. Accessed October 30, 2017.

"Failure to Yield: Evaluating the Performance of Genetically Engineered Crops (2009)." Union of Concerned Scientists. Accessed October 30, 2017. http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/our-failing-food-system/genetic-engineering/failure-to-yield.html#.WfbC2VtSzIU.

USDA: NASS National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Glyphosate. 1999. USDA Agricultural Economic Report No. (AER-810) 67 pp, May 2002. Accessed October 30, 2017.