The Pros And Cons Of Gmos In Agriculture

GMOs in Agriculture

“Sixty to seventy percent of all processed foods available on store shelves contain genetically modified ingredients”, according to George Erdosh and Marcia Amidon Lusted in “To GMO or not to GMO? Genetically engineered food has strong advocates and harsh critics.” Genetically modified organisms can be found in most conventional foods processed in the United States, and genetic modification of crops is extremely common on classic Minnesotan farms. Plants such as corn and soybeans or even papaya and zuchinni are viable for genetic modification. In fact, the definition of (GMO) as reported by Alex K. Rich and Tom Warhol, authors of “Genetically Modified Foods: An Overview,” is, “food in which, at some point during the production

This was accomplished by keeping the finest of the past years crop to use as the following years seed. In comparison with today, the technology that is used to create GMOs has vastly improved over the last fifty years (Erdosh 2). What took numerous seasons of careful plant selection and breeding in the past, now only takes a few years with the current automation. To illustrate, alterations to plants are performed when scientists take a piece of DNA from one plant and clip out a specific, unwanted gene. From this point, researchers obtain a gene with the wanted characteristics from another DNA and put it in place of the unwanted gene. This is then used to get the optimal yield from a given crop. For instance, frost is extremely tough on strawberries and can kill them if they are not protected. On the contrary, parsley is resistant to frost due to its inherent antifreeze chemicals. This fortunate connection between the two plants makes them perfect candidates for genetic modification. For example, if a biotechnologist can implant the parsley’s gene capable of producing antifreeze chemicals into the strawberry plant, the farmer may be able to start planting strawberries a few weeks sooner in the spring and will subsequently produce a longer harvest season and an earlier crop (Erdosh

Less fuel and labor is required by spraying an entire field rather than burning weeds with propane burners or cultivating, which can produce bigger plants resulting in a larger yield. GMOs also protect the environment as they require the use of less pesticides per acre compared to Non-GMOs due to their pest and weed resistance. Julia M. Diaz and Judith L. Fridovich-Keil in “Genetically Modified Organism (GMO)” reported, “genetically engineered crops dramatically increase per area crop yield and reduce the use of chemical insecticides.” For example, say Plant A has an exceptional resistance to weeds, but poor resistance to insects, and Plant B has fantastic resistance to both. To solve Plant A’s issue, the gene in charge of insect resistance in Plant B would be cut into Plant A. This develops an overall better resistance against pests and weeds in Plant A, resulting in larger growth and increased yield. For instance, RoundUp Ready soybeans are soybeans that have been modified to withstand RoundUp, which is a chemical meant for weeds but can kill a variety of plants. This allows farmers to use RoundUp to spray their entire field and only kill the weeds and not the crop. Furthermore, GMOs can be crop dusted with a specific chemical, which is the aerial application of crop protection products. This is a convenience Non-GMO farmers do not have