Cultivation of genetically engineered crops delivers "substantial environmental and economic" benefits to farmers, according to the first major farm-level sustainability study conducted by the National Research Council.
The new report identifies improved water quality through a combination of less damaging pesticide use and conservation tillage (often found alongside biotech cultivation) as "the largest single environmental benefit" of biotech crops.
The study –– "The Impact of Genetically Engineered Crops on Farm Sustainability in the United States " –– points to economic benefits for biotech farmers, due to higher yields and lower-cost pest resistance.
However, the NRC paper identifies major threats to the economic and environmental benefits of bioengineered crop cultivation through weed resistance problems and other effects which "are likely to become more numerous as it is applied to a greater variety of crops." The study also finds uncertain effects on non-biotech farmers and their profitability.
Overall, the report reflects the "concerns" of non-biotech farmers about risks of gene flow and contamination, especially for those who rely on high-value foreign markets, and describes the worry of growing numbers of farmers that the advance of biotech - through an increasingly concentrated handful of seed manufacturers — may lower their options and seed availability.
In its recommendations, the NRC calls for more public-private collaboration on tackling weed resistance problems and delivering maximum environmental benefits from biotech, while demanding further study into the wider socio-economic effects of using the technology.
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