Biotech crops have continued to increase global food, feed and fiber production by nearly 1 billion tons for around 25 years, from 1996 to 2020 that they are being used, give farmers almost $4 income for every dollar invested, and reduce the environmental footprint linked to crop protection by over 17 percent, a new study disclosed.
The use of genetically modified (GM) crops reduced carbon emissions by 39.1 billion kilograms based on reduced fuel use of 14.7 billion liters—which is equivalent to removing 25.9 million cars from the roads, according to the United Kingdom-based PG Economics Ltd. research that was released on October 5, a copy of which was furnished to the BusinessMirror.
Graham Brookes, director of PG Economics and author of the research, said: “GM crop technology continues to make an important contribution to reducing the environmental footprint of agriculture and securing global food supplies in a sustainable way.”
An agricultural economist, Brookes added: “It has reduced pressure to bring new land into agriculture, which is vital if the world is to maintain and restore the natural habitats and vegetation that are best for many species of plants and animal life and for storing carbon.”
The peer reviewed research said crop biotechnology has contributed to global food security and reduced pressure to use new land in agriculture.
The study said GM crop technology has increased yields through improved control of pests and weeds.
It cited that the insect resistant (IR) crop technology used in cotton and maize has, between 1996 to 2020, increased yields by an average of 17.7 percent for IR maize and 14.5 percent for IR cotton compared to conventional production systems.
It added that farmers who grow IR soybeans commercially in South America have seen an average 9.3 percent increase in yields since 2013.
The study said that for over 25 years of widespread use, crop biotechnology has been responsible for the additional global production of 330 million tons of soybeans, 595 million tons of maize, 37 million tons of cotton lint, 15.8 million tons of canola and 1.9 million tons of sugar beet.
Biotech maize is being planted in the Philippines since 2003 after it was approved for commercial planting in 2002. In 2019, 875,000 hectares of biotech maize were planted in the country, an increase of 39 percent from the previous year, according to data from the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications. It is the only GM plant being planted in the Philippines.
Brookes said in the study that GM crops allow farmers to grow more without needing to use additional land.
The research cited as example that if biotechnology had not been available to farmers in 2020, maintaining global production levels that year would have required the planting of an additional 11.6 million hectares (ha) of soybeans, 8.5 million ha of maize, 2.8 million ha of cotton and 0.5 million ha of canola.
“This 23.4 million ha total is equivalent to the combined agricultural area of Philippines and Vietnam,” the study said.
On biotechnology reducing agriculture’s environmental impact, the UK-based research team said it has significantly reduced agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions by helping farmers adopt more sustainable practices, such as reduced tillage, which decreases the burning of fossil fuels and retains more carbon in the soil.
Brookes said that had GM crops not been grown in 2020, an additional 23.6 billion kilograms of carbon dioxide would have been emitted into the atmosphere, which is the equivalent of adding 15.6 million cars to the roads.
“From 1996 to 2020, crop biotechnology reduced the application of crop protection products by 748.6 million kilograms, a global reduction of 7.2 percent on the area planted to GM crops. This is equal to 1.5 times China’s total annual crop protection product use. As a result, farmers who grow GM crops have reduced the environmental impact associated with their crop protection practices by 17.3 percent,” the study said.
On return on investment in using biotechnology during the 1996-2020 period, farmers in developing countries “received $5.22 as extra income for each extra dollar invested in GM crop seeds, whereas farmers in developed countries received $3 as extra income for each extra dollar invested in GM crop seeds,” the research said.
The average return represents $3.76 in extra income for each extra dollar invested by GM crop growers over the 1996-2020 period, it added.
The net farm level economic benefit was just under $18.8 billion in 2020, equal to an average increase in income of $103/hectare.
From 1996 to 2020, the net global farm income benefit was $261.3 billion, equal to an average increase in income of $112/hectare, the study said.
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