Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
produces a protein which is toxic to certain insects, protecting the plant over
its entire life (Fernandez-Cornejo and McBride, 2002). Commercially
available Bt crops include corn and cotton.
More than 15 years after commercial introduction, adoption of first-
generation GE crop varieties by U.S. farmers has reached about 90 percent of
the planted acres of corn, soybeans, and cotton. U.S. consumers eat many
products derived from these crops—including cornmeal, oils, and sugars—
largely unaware of their GE origins. Despite the rapid increase in adoption
rates for GE corn, soybean, and cotton varieties by U.S. farmers, some
continue to raise questions regarding the potential benefits and risks of GE
crops.
This report updates ERS' 2006 report,
The First Decade of Genetically
Engineered Crops in the United States
. As in the previous report, this report
examines the three major stakeholders of agricultural biotechnology: GE seed
suppliers and technology providers (biotech firms), farmers, and consumers.
F
ROM THE
L
ABORATORY TO THE
F
IELD
Over the last century, private research and development (R&D)
expenditures in the seed industry have increased rapidly both in absolute terms
and relative to public expenditures, altering the focus of R&D and of the crops
studied (Fernandez-Cornejo, 2004). Over the past two decades, technological
innovation in the form of modern biotechnology and changes in property
rights have enabled private-sector firms to capture more value from the seeds
that they develop, and seed remains the most research-intensive of the
agricultural input sectors to date (Heisey and Fuglie, 2012).
While the rapid commercial success of GE varieties is the fulfillment of
R&D efforts, earlier benchmarks include the number of releases for field
testing of GE plant varieties approved by APHIS as well as the determination
of nonregulated status (see box, “Regulatory Oversight”).
4
Field testing is a
critical part of seed development (Fernandez-Cornejo and Caswell, 2006).
Field Releases
The number of field release permits and notifications issued by APHIS for
GE organisms (mostly plant varieties) grew from 4 in 1985 to 1,194 in 2002
and then averaged around 800 per year (figure 1). The cumulative number
