By Theodora Filis
Genetically modified (GM) maize is crop governments and local agencies love to promote as it promises the highest productivity increases. Seed and biotech companies, like Monsanto, DuPont, Syngenta, and Dow, profit greatly as farmers switch to GM seeds, and their demand for pesticides and fertilizers shoots up – ensuring two markets for these companies – herbicides and seeds.
As the food crisis looms, the real danger for the nourishment, health, and culture of the world is whether to choose Monsanto's agenda over strengthening the world's agriculture. Consumer beware: Cultivation of GMOs will accelerate the loss of the world's food sovereignty and contaminate vital native strains of corn.
Today, governments are trampling each other in their haste to get into large-scale public-private partnerships (PPPs), as public pressure builds to promote GM maize in the name of food security. (PPPs involve a contract between a public sector authority and a private party, in which the private party provides a public service or project and assumes substantial financial, technical, and operational risk in the project.) However, only 25 percent of GM maize is consumed as food; the rest goes into poultry feed, animal feed, and industrial use, such as ethanol.
The terms genetically modified (GM) or genetically-engineered (GE) foods and genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) refer to crop plants created for human or animal consumption using the latest molecular biology techniques. These techniques of modern genetics have made possible the direct manipulation of the genetic makeup of organisms. Combining genes from different organisms is known as recombinant DNA technology, and the resulting organism is said to be "genetically modified," "genetically engineered," or "transgenic."
New techniques that insert foreign genetic material, like bacterial genes to produce insecticide in a corn plant, have raised health and environmental concerns. Proponents argue that GM crops can feed the world. And given ever-increasing demands for food, animal feed, fiber, and now biofuels, the world needs all the help it can get. Unfortunately, GM corn and soybeans won't help.
A study from the Union of Concerned Scientists shows GM crops do not produce larger harvests. Crop yield increases in recent years have almost entirely been due to improved farming or traditional plant breeding, despite more than 3,000 field trials of GM crops. GM corn can tolerate high doses of weed-killer, and the Biotechnology Industry Organization argues that GM crops can boost yields in developing countries where there are limited resources for pesticides.
The terms genetically modified (GM) or genetically-engineered (GE) foods and genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) refer to crop plants created for human or animal consumption using the latest molecular biology techniques. These techniques of modern genetics have made possible the direct manipulation of the genetic makeup of organisms. Combining genes from different organisms is known as recombinant DNA technology, and the resulting organism is said to be "genetically modified," "genetically engineered," or "transgenic."
New techniques that insert foreign genetic material, like bacterial genes to produce insecticide in a corn plant, have raised health and environmental concerns. Proponents argue that GM crops can feed the world. And given ever-increasing demands for food, animal feed, fiber, and now biofuels, the world needs all the help it can get. Unfortunately, GM corn and soybeans won't help.
A study from the Union of Concerned Scientists shows GM crops do not produce larger harvests. Crop yield increases in recent years have almost entirely been due to improved farming or traditional plant breeding, despite more than 3,000 field trials of GM crops. GM corn can tolerate high doses of weed-killer, and the Biotechnology Industry Organization argues that GM crops can boost yields in developing countries where there are limited resources for pesticides.
Monsanto has been denying the risk of transgenic contamination of native species, despite evidence that the coexistence of transgenic and biodiversity is impossible. Hiding the truth has been an integral part of Monsanto’s corporate strategies throughout its history, as the company seeks to protect profits at the expense of human health and the environment.
Studies by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and UNESCO affirm transgenics do not increase yields, and have negative impacts of raising agrochemical levels and destroying the soil. These studies also found few or no benefits to poor farmers and consumers. Additionally, GM crops contribute to the climate crisis because they reinforce an oil-dependent agricultural model. Local and small-scale farmer organizations and scientists propose an alternative sustainable model, based on conservation of biodiversity, nutrient recycling, crop synergy, conservation of soil and strategic resources (such as water), and incorporating new bio-technologies compatible with sustainable systems.
Traditional plant breeding boosts crop yields better than genetic modification. Guess those old farmers were on to something, eh?
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