Hmm. The news from India seems to be a direct contradiction of Marcus'
anti-GM articles. See what you think:

http://www.newscientist.com/hottopic...?id=ns99993364

Of course, these are just trials, not actual field crop experience.
--------------------------------------------
GM crops boost yields more in poor countries

Field trials in India suggest that genetically modified crops have far
greater benefits in developing countries, than the developed countries
for which they were designed.

The farm trials of cotton genetically modified to produce a bacterial
toxin produced increases in yield of up to 80 per cent, compared with
non-GM counterparts. This is much greater than the improvement seen in
developed countries where yields are boosted by less than 10 per cent,
say the researchers.

While many groups have opposed GM crops, others argue there is a moral
case for introducing GM technology to developing countries, to help
tackle poverty and hunger.

Matin Qaim, at University of Bonn, Germany, led the new study and says it
is the first to show such striking yield effects. He says this counters
criticism that GM crops are not useful in the developing world because
they only reduce pesticide use, not improve yield. "You could even argue
that the results would be more impressive for food crops," he told New
Scientist.

This is because cotton is a cash crop, allowing the current growers of
the non-GM varieties to purchase pesticides. But for subsistence farmers
who cannot afford any pesticides, the switch to a pest-resistant GM crop
could give even bigger yield increases. Pest pressures are also greater
in the tropics than more temperate regions, he adds.

However, environmentalists argue that GM technology is flawed and that
any short-term improvements in yield will be lost because the pests will
develop resistance.


Bumper year


"Bt cotton", developed by Monsanto, contains a gene from the common soil
bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis. This results in the production of a
toxin that kills bollworms - a major cotton pest in India. The GM cotton
was finally given the commercial go-ahead by the Indian government in
March 2002.

In trials from 1998 to 2001, Qaim and colleague David Zilberman, of the
University of California, Berkeley, found that Bt cotton produced an
average yield advantage of 60 per cent over non-GM cotton.

The GM variety had a bumper year in 2001, as levels of bollworms in India
were especially high. Yields for the Bt strain were 80 per cent higher
than the non-Bt strain and 87 per cent higher than a popular local
hybrid.

GM technology also cut pesticide use, with GM crops sprayed three times
less often than the non-GM varieties. The field trials were carried out
nearly 400 farms across seven Indian states.

(article continues on the web site)

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