Failure to yield: Evaluating the performance of genetically engineered crops

 

For years the biotechnology industry has boasted that its genetically engineered (GE) crops—primarily corn and soybeans, will feed the world by producing higher yields. But according to a report released in March, 2009 by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), this promise has proven to be empty. In the report, Failure to Yield: Evaluating the Performance of Genetically Engineered Crops, senior scientist Doug Gurian-Sherman says, “Despite 20 years of research and 13 years of commercialization, genetic engineering has failed to significantly increase U.S. crop yield.”

Failure to Yield evaluated the overall effect genetic engineering has had on crop yields compared to other agricultural technologies. The 50-page report concludes that, “most of the gains are due to traditional breeding or improvement of other agricultural practices.” The report goes on to say that organic and low-external-input methods of crop production generally produce yields comparable to conventional methods of growing corn and soybeans. And that food grown in this way has less impact on the environment than GE crops which require higher amounts of fertilizers and pesticides to make them successful.

The UCS report concluded that genetically engineered herbicide-tolerant soybeans and herbicide-tolerant corn has not increased yields. Insect-resistant corn, meanwhile, has improved yields only marginally. The increase in yields for both crops over the last 13 years, the report found, was largely due to traditional breeding or improvements in agricultural practices. The Failure to Yield report also says that recent studies have shown that organic and similar farming methods that minimize the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers can more than double crop yields at minimal cost to poor farmers such as those in developing regions like Sub-Saharan Africa.

Failure to Yield recommends agencies and universities increase research and development for proven approaches to increased crop yields. This includes conventional plant breeding programs, organic farming, and sustainable production methods that do not require significant upfront costs. “If we are going to make headway in combating hunger due to overpopulation and climate change, we will need to increase crop yields,” said Gurian-Sherman. “Traditional breeding outperforms genetic engineering hands down.”

Union of Concerned Scientists is the leading science-based nonprofit working for a healthy environment and a safer world.The goal of the UCS Food and Environment Program is a food system that encourages innovative and environmentally sustainable ways to produce high-quality, safe, and affordable food, while ensuring that citizens have a voice in how their food is grown.