Yield Benefit and Fitness Cost of GM Rice Studied

The fast development of agricultural biotechnology also advanced the commercialization of GM crops such as insect-resistant crops. Aside from the increase in the yield of the GM crops, some rare fitness cost under experimental conditions were also reported. Thus, Hui Xia of Fundan University and colleagues conducted a study to compare the yield benefit and fitness cost of three insect-resistant GM lines and their non-GM parental variety. The scientists observed that when there was high insect pressure, the yield of the GM rice was also high. However, when there was low insect pressure, the GM rice yield was also low. They recommended that there must be a strategic field deployment when the GM rice is commercialized to avoid unnecessary yield losses.

The abstract of this research article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2010.05.008.