They’ll have trouble refuting a comprehensive report released on Wednesday at the BIO 2009 Convención Internacional. It proves beyond any reasonable doubt that biotech crops are good both for the environment and the economy, as well as a vital tool of sustainable agriculture.
The author of the study is Graham Brookes, director of PG Economics Ltd., a British firm. I joined him at the convention in Atlanta to discuss his research.
One of the report’s most important findings involves greenhouse gases. En 2007, farmers who planted GM crops reduced carbon-dioxide emissions by more than 14 mil millones de kg. That’s like removing more than six million cars from the road for an entire year. Farmers in the United States alone accounted for 4.3 mil millones de kg, which is equivalent to the exhaust of almost two million cars.
How are we able to do it? The simple truth is that we don’t have to run our tractors nearly as much in order to control pests and weeds. By burning less fuel in our fields, we pump fewer greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Thanks to biotech crops, I’ve reduced my time in tractors by about 50 por ciento.
That’s an environmental benefit for everybody, an economic benefit for consumers, and a personal benefit for me: This technology has afforded me the opportunity to spend more weekends with my family, a definite quality-of-life improvement, made possible by technology.
GM crops also have reduced pesticide use by 359 million kg, o sobre 9 por ciento entre 1996 y 2007. Chemical sprays are a necessary part of food production–and they’re safe–but we all strive to reduce their use. Once again, this involves a savings for producers (which we pass on to consumers), plus an environmental benefit: Brookes calculates that acres that support biotech crops cut their herbicide and insecticide applications by more than 17 por ciento.
Yields have gone up, también–an important factor if we’re to feed a growing world population and conserve wilderness habitat simultaneously. En 2007, biotechnology boosted soybean yields by almost 30 por ciento. Other commodities made substantial gains as well: maÃz (7.6 por ciento), algodón (casi 20 por ciento), y canola (8.5 por ciento). Ya que 1996, biotech traits have added 68 million tons of soybeans and 62 million tons of corn to the global food supply.
Donde yo vivo–in Stutsman County, Dakota del Norte–the changes are obvious. En 1996, farmers in my area planted 2,600 acres of soybeans and harvested 24.4 bushels por acre, according to USDA records. Por 2007, they had discovered the advantages of biotechnology: They planted 295,000 acres of soybeans and harvested 37.2 bushels por acre. We don’t enjoy a bumper crop every season–el año pasado, por ejemplo, poor weather hurt soybean production–but the gains over time are big. Many farmers have switched from growing wheat, a traditional crop in our parts, to growing biotech soybeans and corn.
I don’t credit every single advance to biotechnology. Farmers are always striving to improve, and we’ve adopted new technologies that have nothing to do with genetic modification and tilling practices that help the soil. Yet biotechnology is a key to our success.
Going forward, we should seek to apply its benefits to other commodities, como el trigo. Progress to now has been slowed by politics and ignorance rather than scientific know-how. But last week, wheat growers in Australia, Canadá, and the United States announced publicly that they would work together toward simultaneous commercialization of biotech wheat to minimize market disruption. “We believe it is in all of our best interests to introduce biotech wheat varieties in a coordinated fashion,” said industry groups in a joint statement.
The sooner we’re able to plant genetically enhanced wheat, in North Dakota and elsewhere, the sooner we’ll enjoy even more environmental and economic benefits from biotechnology.
Terry Wanzek cultiva maÃz, soja, y el trigo en su granja familiar en Dakota del Norte. Señor. Wanzek sirve como senador y miembro del consejo de Dakota del Norte de la verdad sobre el comercio y la tecnologÃa (www.truthabouttrade.org)