GENETICALLY ENGINEERED CROPS IN THE UNITED STATES - Genetically Engineered Crops in America - page 5

H OW W AS THE S TUDY C ONDUCTED ?
This report updates the ERS report titled The First Decade of Genetically
Engineered Crops in the United States . To consider biotech seed firms, we use
information from the literature and analyze USDA data on field testing
approvals by APHIS for new GE varieties. To study farmers' use of GE crops,
we analyze USDA farm surveys, particularly the Agricultural Resource
Management Survey (ARMS), and summarize the literature. To understand
consumers' perspectives, we summarize surveys of consumers' attitudes from
the literature.
I NTRODUCTION
Genetic engineering is a key component of modern agricultural
biotechnology. 1 The first genetically engineered (GE) plant, a tomato, was
developed in 1982 (USDA/ARS, 2012). By 1985, the USDA had approved
four releases of GE organisms for field testing. Commercial use of major GE
crops began in 1996. 2
Genetically engineered crop traits have been classified into one of three
generations (FernandezCornejo, 2004). The first generation features enhanced
input traits such as herbicide tolerance, resistance to insects, and resistance to
environmental stress (like drought). The second features value-added output
traits such as nutrient-enhanced seeds for feed. The third generation of GE
crops would include traits to allow production of pharmaceuticals and products
beyond traditional food and fiber.
While the first GE crop approved by USDA's Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service (APHIS) and commercialized in 1994 was a crop with a
strictly second-generation trait (FlavrSavr tomato), most GE crops planted in
the United States have first-generation traits. All three generations of GE crop
traits are in various stages of research and development. 3
Most U.S. acres planted to GE crops have traits that provide herbicide
tolerance (HT) and/or insect resistance. These seeds became commercially
available in 1996. HT crops are able to tolerate certain highly effective
herbicides, such as glyphosate, allowing adopters of these varieties to control
pervasive weeds more effectively. Commercially available HT crops include
soybeans, corn, cotton, canola, sugarbeets, and alfalfa. Insect-resistant or Bt
crops contain a gene from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) that