bright eyed
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2007
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This paper makes some interesting points - ...Conservation Ecology: The Risks and Benefits of Genetically Modified Crops: A Multidisciplinary Perspective "While biotechnology could be used to produce large social and ecological benefits, most GM crops developed to date have been designed to benefit agrobusiness while exposing people and ecosystems to substantial risks. Due to this pattern, there is widespread suspicion of agricultural biotechnology and its advocates."
BIOTECHNOLOGY AND AGRICULTURE
In his statement on crop biotechnology, Conway states "... Biotechnology is going to be an essential partner, if yield ceilings are to be raised, if crops are to be grown without excessive reliance on pesticides and herbicides, and if farmers on less favored lands are to be provided with crops that are resistant to drought and salinity, and that can make more efficient use of nitrogen and other nutrients." This argument is commonly used to advocate the development and use of GM crops, but it is not currently supported by either the consensus of scientists or any comprehensive comparison of agricultural alternatives.
Roughly 95% of the world's farmers live in developing countries. Most of these people engage in small-scale, community-based agriculture. Over long periods of time, these communities have constructed complex systems of knowledge about their environment (Castillo and Toledo 2000). More recently, the "green revolution" succeeded in making food more easily available to most of the world's population. Increases in agricultural production were brought about by a combination of increased irrigation, more intensive use of fertilizers and plant protection chemicals, and the development of new crop varieties capable of responding to higher levels of inputs and management. However, this agricultural intensification often came at the expense of local ecosystems and human health. These changes reduced the ability of the poor to support themselves from local ecosystems while benefiting well-off farmers. The centralized nature of crop biotechnology will further this process by reducing local specificity and adaptation of agricultural practices, which increases both social dependency on external inputs to agriculture and decreases the ability of local agroecosystems to adapt to local environmental contexts (Gadgil 2000). While future biotechnology may be codeveloped in local communities, as Conway proposes, it currently is not.
Furthermore, it is questionable whether technical innovation is what is needed to develop more productive agriculture. The area with the greatest current need for increased agricultural production is Africa, where the green revolution was largely a failure (Dyson 1999). It is unlikely that GM crops will eliminate the social problems that led to this failure. Conway acknowledges that a large body of social science research has demonstrated that famines are caused not by food shortages or a lack of agricultural technology, but by lack of access to food (Sen 1977, 1980). Food access is determined by institutional characteristics such as property rights, political stability, and social security systems. Even with stable or expanding food supplies, inequality in the area of food access can lead to starvation and malnutrition. Genetically modified crops promise to increase the productivity of poor farmers in the developing world, but so do other agricultural technologies (Ruttan 1999, Thomas 1999). Rather than investing in GM crops, one could invest in organic farming, integrated pest management, water management, or crop breeding. A fair assessment of the relative merits of different agricultural practices requires a systematic understanding of these alternatives. However, there has been little systematic research on the relative ecological and economic merits of alternative agricultural systems. Agricultural research has tended to narrow its focus to single goals, such as reducing erosion or increasing crop yields, rather than regarding the management of agroecosystems as a component of regional ecosystem management.
BIOTECHNOLOGY AND AGRICULTURE
In his statement on crop biotechnology, Conway states "... Biotechnology is going to be an essential partner, if yield ceilings are to be raised, if crops are to be grown without excessive reliance on pesticides and herbicides, and if farmers on less favored lands are to be provided with crops that are resistant to drought and salinity, and that can make more efficient use of nitrogen and other nutrients." This argument is commonly used to advocate the development and use of GM crops, but it is not currently supported by either the consensus of scientists or any comprehensive comparison of agricultural alternatives.
Roughly 95% of the world's farmers live in developing countries. Most of these people engage in small-scale, community-based agriculture. Over long periods of time, these communities have constructed complex systems of knowledge about their environment (Castillo and Toledo 2000). More recently, the "green revolution" succeeded in making food more easily available to most of the world's population. Increases in agricultural production were brought about by a combination of increased irrigation, more intensive use of fertilizers and plant protection chemicals, and the development of new crop varieties capable of responding to higher levels of inputs and management. However, this agricultural intensification often came at the expense of local ecosystems and human health. These changes reduced the ability of the poor to support themselves from local ecosystems while benefiting well-off farmers. The centralized nature of crop biotechnology will further this process by reducing local specificity and adaptation of agricultural practices, which increases both social dependency on external inputs to agriculture and decreases the ability of local agroecosystems to adapt to local environmental contexts (Gadgil 2000). While future biotechnology may be codeveloped in local communities, as Conway proposes, it currently is not.
Furthermore, it is questionable whether technical innovation is what is needed to develop more productive agriculture. The area with the greatest current need for increased agricultural production is Africa, where the green revolution was largely a failure (Dyson 1999). It is unlikely that GM crops will eliminate the social problems that led to this failure. Conway acknowledges that a large body of social science research has demonstrated that famines are caused not by food shortages or a lack of agricultural technology, but by lack of access to food (Sen 1977, 1980). Food access is determined by institutional characteristics such as property rights, political stability, and social security systems. Even with stable or expanding food supplies, inequality in the area of food access can lead to starvation and malnutrition. Genetically modified crops promise to increase the productivity of poor farmers in the developing world, but so do other agricultural technologies (Ruttan 1999, Thomas 1999). Rather than investing in GM crops, one could invest in organic farming, integrated pest management, water management, or crop breeding. A fair assessment of the relative merits of different agricultural practices requires a systematic understanding of these alternatives. However, there has been little systematic research on the relative ecological and economic merits of alternative agricultural systems. Agricultural research has tended to narrow its focus to single goals, such as reducing erosion or increasing crop yields, rather than regarding the management of agroecosystems as a component of regional ecosystem management.