Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
herbicide tolerance, 31 for insect resistance, 17 for product quality, 9 for
agronomic properties, 8 for virus resistance, and 2 for others. 7
The Research and Development Pipeline
APHIS approval for field testing and determination of nonregulated status
signals that the GE products are near commercial status. In addition to crops
with improved pest management traits, APHIS approvals include crops with
traits that provide viral/fungal resistance; favorable agronomic properties
(resistance to cold, drought, frost, salinity, more efficient use of nitrogen,
increased yield); enhanced product quality such as delayed ripening, flavor,
and texture (fruits and vegetables); increased protein or carbohydrate content,
fatty acid content or micronutrient content; modified starch, color (cotton,
flowers), fiber properties (cotton) or gluten content (wheat); naturally
decaffeinated (coffee); nutraceuticals (added vitamins, iron, antioxidants such
as beta-carotene); and pharmaceuticals (table 2). 8 Additional information is
found in the Pew Initiative (2001), Runge and Ryan (2004), Monsanto (2012),
and Pioneer (2012).
A DOPTION OF GE C ROPS BY U.S. F ARMERS
When farmers adopt a new technology, they typically expect benefits like
increased farm net returns, time savings (by making farming less effort
intensive), or reduced exposure to chemicals. Net benefits are a function of
farm characteristics and location, output and input prices, existing production
systems, and farmer abilities and preferences.
Judging by the widespread adoption of GE seeds, farmers have benefited
from them. U.S. farmers planted about 169 million acres of GE corn,
soybeans, and cotton in 2013 (table 3), accounting for almost half of the
estimated total land used to grow all U.S. crops.
On a global scale, approximately 420 million acres of GE crops were
planted in 28 countries in 2012 (International Service for the Acquisition of
Agri-biotech Applications, 2012). U.S. acreage accounted for approximately
41 percent of acres planted with GE seed, Brazil accounted for 21 percent,
Argentina for 14 percent, Canada for 7 percent, India for 6 percent, and China,
Paraguay, South Africa, and Pakistan each for roughly 2 percent.
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