Time to think again about biotech plants and foods

Crops and foods developed using biotechnology have been dismissed by many people in Europe. But there are many good reasons why it’s time to reconsider – here are five. 1) Biotech plants are part of the solution to the greatest challenge of our generation – hunger. 2) Scare-mongering claims by anti-groups have turned out to be untrue and people’s opinions are mellowing. 3) The world is adopting biotech crops at an incredible pace. 4) Biotech crops play an important role in the developing world. 5) They provide solutions to environmental problems.

Biotech plants are part of the solution to the great challenge of our generation – hunger
The global population reached 7 billion in 2011, 1 billion of whom are hungry or systematically undernourished. Food security is rising to the top of the political agenda. One of the most comprehensive analyses on how to feed the world: “The Foresight Report: The Future of Food and Farming” by the UK’s Chief Scientific Advisor, says our system has two major failings: hunger remains widespread and food production systems are unsustainable. The report calls for a fundamental policy shift and decisive action, and says that GM crops have a role to play.

Globally we need to increase yields. Producing more food means increasing pressure on scarce agricultural land and natural resources. Biotechnology is a land-saving technology because it allows farmers to increase yields on existing agricultural land. It’s been calculated that if biotech crops had not existed, an additional 12.4 million hectares – equivalent to nearly the entire surface of England – would have been needed to get the same total output.

A good example of land-saving efficiency is the genetically modified (GM) maize resistant to the corn borer parasite. It has been grown in six European countries, including Spain and Portugal for the past 12 years. The farmers using it can produce between 6-30% higher yields. In 2011 as a result of high corn borer infestation, Spanish and Portuguese GM maize plantings increased by 25% and 60%.

Time has shown negative claims about genetically modified crops to be untrue
All kinds of wild claims have been made about biotech crops over the years since their introduction. But none of the carefully concocted scare stories has ever materialized. 20 years ago, before we had experience with cultivating GM crops, it may have been understandable to fear the technology. But biotech crops are now part of the food landscape and the record is clear: scientific studies by leading scientists and over 2 trillion GM food meals eaten have shown no negative effects for health or the environment.

Leading environmental campaigners have realized this error. Campaigners such as Stewart Brand, Charles Secrett and Greenpeace founder Patrick Moore have all suggested that it’s time to reconsider GM. As Brand said: "I would like to see an environmental movement that says it turns out our fears about genetically engineered food crops were exaggerated…”.

Public opinion towards biotech food is also mellowing, particularly among the younger generation. A recent poll asked 16,000 Europeans to describe possible problems or risks associated with food. Only 8% said they were worried about GM in food.

The world is adopting biotech crops and foods at unprecedented rates
Biotech crops have been commercialized for 16 years and predominately in four major crops (maize, soya, rapeseed and cotton). Agricultural biotechnology is the fastest adopted crop technology in the history of agriculture. Today GM crops are grown in 29 countries around the world, by 15.4 million farmers, 90% of who live and farm in developing countries.

Although the food challenge is most acute in Africa, Europe’s consumers are part of a global food market. Europe relies heavily on land outside its borders to meet its food needs. Its net imports are equivalent to outsourcing an area of arable land almost as big as the surface area of Germany. On average, Europe imports 30-40 million tons of protein every year, almost all to feed animals. More than 90% of this imported protein is genetically modified. If we consider Europe imports of 30 million tons and that there are about 500 million consumers in Europe, this would mean that every EU citizen is indirectly consuming roughly the equivalent of 60 kilos of biotech grain every year.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation support the use of GM crops and invest in their development for the developing world.

Biotech crops play an important role in the developing world
Biotech crops are already grown in some African countries as well as in Asia and in South America and there is large-scale research underway to develop biotech varieties for staple crops such as cassava, bananas, sorghum and corn. For example in Uganda, where a fungal disease called black sigatoka is heavily affecting bananas, public research is developing genetically modified bananas resistant to black sigatoka. 7 million Ugandans and 65% of the urban population depend on bananas as their main staple food.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation support the use of GM crops and invest in their development for the developing world. The foundation outlined six reasons for doing so, among them that biotech approaches offer promising solutions to farmers facing difficult growing conditions and that they can help improve health.

Europe’s reticence about GM crops has often inhibited the uptake of agricultural innovation in developing countries. Consider the views of Gilbert Arap Bor, a Kenyan farmer who wrote an editorial in the Wall Street Journal called “Africa Can Feed the World”. Bor wrote that African “…governments currently follow the woefully misguided example of European countries that refuse to accept biotechnology, including genetically modified crops…” He quotes a fellow Kenyan, Dr. M’mobyi, who said that the influence of the West is “…denying many in the developing world access to such technologies which could lead to a more plentiful food supply… This kind of hypocrisy and arrogance comes with the luxury of a full stomach."

Biotech crops provide real solutions to environmental problems
Increasing yields on the same amount of land avoids the need to cultivate land that provides a haven for biodiversity. Moreover, biotech crops with additional traits such as improved nitrogen-use efficiency need less fertiliser input. Less spraying and less need for fertiliser also mean reductions in the use of tractor fuel and water. Soils are better protected from erosion and compaction through less ploughing, which helps conserve soil moisture.

Less ploughing helps reduce CO2 emissions. In 2009, the savings through sequestration due to the cultivation of GM crops was equivalent to not producing 17.6 billion kg of CO2 or removing 7.8 million cars from the road for one year. More efficient protection against insect damage results in a significant reduction in the need to spray crops. By 2009, the usage of GM crops had helped to decrease spraying by 17% of global pesticide use.

Looking to the future
As we look to the future, we need to ask ourselves: what actions are we going to take to ensure that everyone has access to affordable, safe and nutritious food, to ensure that farmers have a competitive and sustainable future, and that they and we can cope with the effects of climate change on agricultural land?

There is no ‘silver bullet’, but we can no longer afford to dismiss a technology with a 100% safety record and proven benefits for food production and the environment. We must seize the potential of all available approaches. No technology should be rejected on the basis of an emotional reaction or misinformation. It is time to embrace all the best farming and food production processes. It is time to think again about biotech crops and food as one of these.