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5 - The controversy

Purported benefits

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

R. Paul Thompson
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
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Summary

Since 2005, when the first commercial plantings of GM crops occurred, farmers have been the principal immediate beneficiaries: higher yields, lower input costs and so on. There have been benefits to consumers and to the environment but these are less visible. Consumers have benefited from a secure supply of food at stable or falling prices – even though, for example, the cost of oil-derived products (e.g. fuel – used in tractors and transport trucks – and artificial fertilisers) has increased significantly. The environment has benefited from reduced pesticide and herbicide spraying, reduced use of fuel in tractors (fewer herbicide sprayings required and no pesticide spraying), lower groundwater contamination, and zero tillage (reducing wind and water erosion of soils). There are, of course, claims of harms associated with GM crops as well as challenges to the claimed benefits; these are examined in the next chapter. The next generation of GM crops promises to have more tangible benefits for consumers (e.g. higher expression of specific vitamin enrichment and long-chain Ω-3 fatty acids – an important cardiac health benefit), for the environment (e.g. draught tolerance – hence, less irrigation water use – and lower fertiliser requirements – nitrogen fertiliser, for example, which is a significant source of greenhouse gases) and for farmers in low- and middle-income countries. In this chapter, I explore three purported benefits of GM crops.

Type
Chapter
Information
Agro-Technology
A Philosophical Introduction
, pp. 137 - 151
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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  • The controversy
  • R. Paul Thompson, University of Toronto
  • Book: Agro-Technology
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511977541.007
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  • The controversy
  • R. Paul Thompson, University of Toronto
  • Book: Agro-Technology
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511977541.007
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The controversy
  • R. Paul Thompson, University of Toronto
  • Book: Agro-Technology
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511977541.007
Available formats
×