Biotech Updates

GM Crops Results in Improved Productivity, Says Study

March 30, 2007

After a decade of genetically modified (GM) technology, important positive socio-economic and environmental benefits have been realized despite a limited range of GM agronomic traits that have been commercialized in a small range of crops. The technology has resulted in improved productivity and profitability for about 8.5 million adopting farmers who have used it in over 87 million hectares in 2005. These are among the conclusions forwarded by “GM crops: The first ten years – global socio-economic and environmental impacts” by Graham Brookes and Peter Barfoot of PG Economics Ltd., United Kingdom.

The report, published as Brief 36, by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), discusses the global context of GM crops, the farm level economic impact of GM crops, and environmental impact of the technology.

 The full report is available online at http://www.isaaa.org/Resources/publications/briefs/36/default.html.