GM FOODS

By:Mohamed Al Marzouqi

About GM foods

Although still a big question mark, genetically modified foods, introduced almost a decade ago are sprouting up on millions of acres around the world of farmland. In fact, most all of the soybean, corn, and canola crops in the US and abroad are produced using genetically modified seeds

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages of genetically engineered foods

Slide 2 of 3 GM crops are more productive and have a larger yield. Offer more nutritional value and better flavor. A possibility that they could eliminate allergy-causing properties in some foods. Inbuilt resistance to pests, weeds and disease. More capable of thriving in regions with poor soil or adverse climates. More environment friendly as they require less herbicides and pesticides. Foods are more resistant and stay ripe for longer so they can be shipped long distances or kept

on shop shelves for longer periods. As more GM crops can be grown on relatively small parcels of land, GM crops are an answer to

feeding growing world populations. They further add that - GM foods are safe. Changing a few genes here and there does not make a crop toxic or

dangerous. The meddling with nature argument made against GM foods doesn't hold water. There are many

things that human beings have transformed to serve their purpose. Why pick on this?

Were are the crops

In India, GM cotton yields in Andhra Pradesh were no better than non-GM cotton in 2002, the first year of commercial GM cotton planting. This was because there was a severe drought in Andhra Pradesh that year and the parental cotton plant used in the genetic engineered variant was not well suited to extreme drought. Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu had an average 42% increase in yield with GM cotton in the same year. Drought resistant variants were developed and, with the substantially reduced losses to insect predation, by 2009 87% of Indian cotton was GM. Though disputed the economic and environmental benefits of GM cotton in India to the individual farmer have been documented.

Economics of GM foods

Many proponents of genetically engineered crops claim they lower pesticide usage and have brought higher yields and profitability to many farmers, including those in developing nations.[80] For example, a 2010 study by US scientists, found that the economic benefit of Bt corn to farmers in five mid-west states was $6.9 billion over the previous 14 years. They were surprised that the majority ($4.3 billion) of the benefit accrued to non-Bt corn. This was speculated to be because the European Corn Borers that attack the Bt corn die and there are fewer left to attack the non-GM corn nearby.[81][82]

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Refernece: www.wikipedia.com