Biotech Crops Improve Asian Small Farmers' Lives, Study Reveals

A publication highlighting the findings of the research project Adoption and Uptake Pathways of Biotech Crops by Small-scale Resource-poor Asian Farmers: Comparative Studies in China, India, and the Philippines, was released by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Indian Society of Cotton Improvement; and the College of Development Communication, University of the Philippines Los Baños.

The monograph, titled Cadres of Change: Transforming Biotech Farmers in China, India, and the Philippines, has detailed farmers' account with regard to the benefits that they reaped upon adopting biotech crops. This include higher yields, less production expenses due to fewer pesticide applications, and harvested quality grains or bolls. As a result, farmers noted an increase in income and a better quality of life. The publication also tackled the pathways tracing how the adoption of biotech crops spread in the farming communities in the three countries.

The monograph is complemented by a ten minute video woven into a consolidated story of who biotech farmers are, how they benefitted from the technology, process of adoption and uptake, and problems and challenges met.

Access the full report at http://www.isaaa.org/programs/specialprojects/templeton/adoption/monograph/Cadres%20of%20Change.pdf. Watch the video at http://www.isaaa.org/resources/videos/cadresofchange/default.asp.