Challenges for growing food are vast and ever emerging in this day and age. Between the influx in population, climate change, and the increase of urbanization, it is becoming increasingly difficult to grow enough food to feed the world. Alternatively, with the evolution of plant cultivation, such as Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s), practices have grown immensely to help offset the different challenges that have risen, but horticulturalists are also faced with the difficulty of resistance to the idea of plant modifications. This essay will explore why GMO’s are the best route to counteract the increasing challenges. Currently the cultivation of foods is a hot topic, especially in regards to GMO’s. The USA is at the forefront of modifications, …show more content…
By growing crops with a higher yield and of better quality, land usage can be optimized therefore the decreasing acreage allotted for farming will have a larger impact. GMO’s alterations can allow the plant to outcompete the weeds or have resistance to insects, thereby depleting the amount of other herbicides or pesticides needed, which corresponds to a lower environmental impact. By modifying plants, this enables the genes for desired traits, such as increased minerals (i.e. iron, calcium), to be implemented into the organism you’re growing, therefore enhancing the nutrition of the plant. It is also interesting to note that although GMO’s are modifications, they do not increase …show more content…
Although I am a strong believer in sustainability and other naturalistic approaches, so long as humans continue to degrade the earth and increase the effects of global climate change, sustainable crops will not be enough to meet the growing populations. In already warm climates, a small rise in temperature can reduce crop yields significantly. Also in more temperate zones, the longer growing seasons and milder winters that are expected to occur will increase the likelihood of disease and pests, as the long winter months were a form of natural pest