Solutions to Agricultural Problems 363(^0) United States
15
30
45
60
Other countries
Percentage of 2011 world production
of genetically modified crops
Brazil Argentina India Canada
2000
Year
1995 2005 2010
Millions of hectares planted
0
25
50
75
100
125
150
175
Global total
Highly developed
countries
Developing
countries
International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-BiotechApplications,
Global Status of Commericalized
Biotech/GM Crops: 2011
, ISAAA Brief 43-2011.
International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications,Global Status of Commericalized Biotech/GM Crops: 2011
, ISAAA
Brief 43-2011.
a. The world’s top producers of GM crops.
b. The production of GM crops has increased rapidly.
to weeds or wild relatives of crop plants and possibly harm
natural ecosystems in the process. Scientists recognize this
concern as legitimate and must take special precautions to
avoid this possibility. Critics also worry that some consum-
ers might develop food allergies to GM foods, although
scientists routinely screen new GM crops for allergenicity.
A growing body of evidence indicates that current GM
crop plants are as safe for human consumption as crops
grown by conventional or organic agriculture. According
to the FAO, GM crops widely planted in North America
and elsewhere appear to have posed little threat to the
environment. However, a complete analysis of the costs
and benefits of long-term planting of GM crops remains to
be done, in part because more research on the environ-
mental impacts of GM crops is needed. To that end, strict
guidelines exist in areas of genetic engineering research
that could possibly affect the environment. Much research
is currently being conducted to assess the effects of intro-
ducing GM crops whose foreign genes might spread to
non-GM plants and be incorporated into their genetic
makeup. It is important to assess the biology of each GM
organism to determine if it has characteristics that might
cause an environmental hazard under certain conditions.
- What is sustainable agriculture? What are some
features of a sustainable farm? - Why are some people opposed to GM crops?
The first genetically modified (GM) crops were
approved for commercial planting in the United States
in the early 1990s. The United States is the world’s top
producer of GM crops (}ÕÀiÊ £{°£Î>). Since 2000,
however, GM production in developing nations has
increased faster than in highly developed countries (Fig-
ÕÀiÊ£{°£ÎL). Developing nations produced half of the
world’s GM crops in 2011.
Genetic engineering has been used to develop more
productive farm animals, including rapidly growing hogs
and fishes. Perhaps the greatest potential contribution of
animal genetic engineering is the production of vaccines
against disease organisms that harm agricultural animals.
For example, genetically engineered vaccines have been
developed to protect cattle against the deadly viral dis-
ease rinderpest, which is economically devastating in
parts of Asia and Africa.Concerns about Genetically Modified Foods
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, opposition to genet-
ically engineered crops increased in many countries in
Europe and Africa. In 1999 the EU placed a 5-year mora-
torium on virtually all approvals of GM crops (the morato-
rium has since been lifted), and subsequently refused to buy
U.S. corn because it might be genetically modified. (Cur-
rently, 80 percent or more of the U.S. corn crop is geneti-
cally modified, mostly to protect against insect pests and
provide resistance to herbicides [weed killers].) One con-
cern is that the inserted genes could spread from GM crops7À`Ê«À`ÕVÌÊvÊ ÊVÀ«ÃÊUÊ}ÕÀiÊ£{°£ÎÊ