Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 1
G
ENETICALLY
E
NGINEERED
C
ROPS
IN THE
U
NITED
S
TATES
*
Jorge Fernandez-Cornejo, Seth Wechsler,
Mike Livingston and Lorraine Mitchell
A
BSTRACT
More than 15 years after their first successful commercial
introduction in the United States, genetically engineered (GE) seeds have
been widely adopted by U.S. corn, soybean, and cotton farmers. Still,
some questions persist regarding the potential benefits and risks of GE
crops. The report finds that, although the pace of research and
development (measured by the number of USDA-approved field tests)
peaked in 2002, other measures show that biotech firms continue to
develop new GE seed varieties at a rapid pace. Also, U.S. farmers
continue to adopt GE seeds at a robust rate, and seed varieties with
multiple (stacked) traits have increased at a very rapid rate. Insecticide
use has decreased with the adoption of insect-resistant crops, and
herbicide-tolerant crops have enabled the substitution of glyphosate for
more toxic and persistent herbicides. However, overreliance on
glyphosate and a reduction in the diversity of weed management practices
have contributed to the evolution of glyphosate resistance in some weed
species.
