Increasing Yields

Have these people never been to a farm to see what weeds and insects do to crop yields?

August 25, 2008

Jamestown, ND - The anti-biotechnology crowd has adopted a new talking point, claiming that biotechnology does not increase yields.

Activist groups are highly skilled at finding a fact and distorting it for their agenda. For this new talking point, they have twisted an April 2006 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The report overall is supportive of biotechnology, but the activists found part of one paragraph they could exploit.

Here's the quote they like to cite: "Currently available (genetically engineered) crops do not increase the yield potential of a hybrid variety. In fact, yield may even decrease if the varieties used to carry the herbicide-tolerant or insect-resistant genes are not the highest yielding cultivars."

They ignore the rest of the paragraph, which states: "However, by protecting the plant from certain pests, GE crops can prevent yield losses compared with non-GE hybrids, particularly when pest infestation is high." Read More

Biotech crops continue to be in the news because of their detractors and their promise of increasing food production. As is mentioned in this article, those that want to ban biotech crops continue to twist the truth in order to support their position. Everyone who is interested in eating deserves to know the whole truth about biotech and what it will take to feed 10 billion mouths by the middle of this century. And the truth is yields have never been higher in American farming due to advances in technology.