Biotechnology's Role in Sustainability

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Biotechnology's Role in Sustainability
Excerpt from ISAAA Press Release, February 11, 2009

In addition to aiding in issues of food security, biotech crops have an important role to play in lessening the environmental impact and improving the sustainability of food production. Insect-resistant rice, for example, has the potential to benefit about 1 billion people.

Biotech crops contribute to increased food availability and affordability, increasing production by 141 million metric tons in the 12 years, 1996 to 2007.
Biotech crops help conserve biodiversity by saving land. Forty-three million additional hectares of land would have been required to create the production gain of 141 million tonnes generated by biotech crops. With 70 percent of the world’s poorest dependent on agriculture and with income as low as US $1 a day, biotech crops can also contribute to economic sustainability and alleviation of poverty. In developing nations and transforming economies, agriculture is responsible for a substantial part of the GDP. Increases in agriculture productivity from biotech crops are evident, for example:

Research in India, China, South Africa and the Philippines shows biotech crops have already increased incomes $115 to $250 per hectare. Globally over 12 million resource poor farmers benefited from biotech crops in 2008.
Approval of insect-resistant rice has the potential to benefit more than 250 million rice households in Asia, or approximately 1 billion people.
Further, the global net economic benefit to biotech crop farmers in 2007 alone was $10 billion ($6 billion in developing countries and $4 billion in industrialized nations.) For the period 1996 to 2007 the economic benefit was $44 billion, equally divided between developing and industrial countries

Biotech crops have already substantially reduced agriculture’s environmental footprint by reducing pesticides, saving on fossil fuel use and decreasing carbon dioxide emissions and soil loss through less plowing. In particular, from 1996 to 2007 biotech crops saved 359,000 metric tons of pesticides (active ingredient).

The development of drought-tolerant crops also has enormous potential to increase yield where water is limiting. Approximately 70 percent of the world’s fresh water is used for agricultural purposes. Importantly drought tolerant maize is expected to be available in the US in 2012, or earlier, and in Sub Sahara Africa by 2017.

The environmental benefits associated with biotech crops have also helped reduce greenhouse gases. In 2007 alone, carbon dioxide savings were 14.2 billion kg, equivalent to removing 6.3 million cars from the road.

French farmers discuss the benefits of GM crops and explain why they think the country needs to reevaluate and adopt plant biotechnology.

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