MANILA, Philippines - The use of genetically-modified (GM) crops now accounts for 15 percent of global agricultural production, University of Georgia crop science expert Dr. Wayne Parrott said.
In a recent seminar sponsored by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR), Parrott argued that countries cannot be food-secure without GM crops.
He revealed that 92 percent of globally-traded soybean is now GM. This high saturation level is true also in GM corn, which has achieved an 80 percent global trade level and is also the case in cotton, canola and sugarbeets which are all at 90 percent GM.
In the future, Parrott said there will also be GM rice, which China and Iran are already developing.
The Philippines, likewise, Parrott pointed out, is developing GM eggplants.
The use of GM crops has resulted in an increase in yields while keeping at bay the conversion of more lands for agriculture, he said.
Likewise, the cost of production in terms of the use of more herbicides and pesticides has also been mitigated with the development of disease-resistant GM crops. The use of less herbicides and pesticides, is an important benefit of GM crops.
He added that cancer-causing aflatoxin from corn mold and other toxins are also eliminated with GM corn. After insects damage corn, fungus follows which has an effect of causing cancer, birth defects, and depresses the immune system.
He further argued that the ill effects of global warming is being reversed by the increasing area for GM crops which reduce greenhouse gas emission.
Parrott explained that GM herbicide resistant crops, for one, enables farmers’ omission of tilling of the soil. With less tilling, there is less emission of carbon dioxide to the environment and enhances moisture in the soil. Prevention of emission of carbon dioxide also comes largely from non-razing of more forest lands for agricultural use.