Introduction -- Background and context -- Genetic engineering and yield: what has the technology accomplished so far? -- Alternatives to genetic engineering for insect resistance and herbicide tolerance -- Can Genetic engineering increase food production in the twenty-first century? -- Conclustions and recommendations
Summary
... [E]valuates the overall effect genetic engineering has had on crop yields in relation to other agricultural technologies. It reviewed two dozen academic studies of corn and soybeans, the two primary genetically engineered food and feed crops grown in the United States. Based on those studies, the UCS report concluded that genetically engineering herbicide-tolerant soybeans and herbicide-tolerant corn has not increased yields. Insect-resistant corn, meanwhile, has improved yields only marginally. The increase in yields for both crops over the last 13 years, the report found, was largely due to traditional breeding or improvements in agricultural practices
