Biotech Crops Help World’s Farmers “Go Green”

Peer-Reviewed Study Documents Major Reductions in Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Fuel and Pesticide Use as Biotech Crops Facilitate Shift to Conservation Tillage

Biotech crops have produced a decade of improvements in yield and net farm income for grain, oilseed and cotton farmers. A new peer-reviewed study estimates benefits of biotech crops on the environment as well, including  reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.

In 2005, herbicide-tolerant biotech crops planted using conservation tillage practices helped to retain carbon in the soil. Insect-resistant crops dramatically reduced the need for spraying, while also significantly reducing farm fuel usage. All told, biotech crops, planted during their 10th year of use on 215 million acres by 8.5 million farmers, reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 8.9 million tons. That’s the equivalent to removing nearly 4 million family cars from the road for an entire year, according to study author Graham Brookes, director of PG Economics Limited of Dorchester, United Kingdom.

“Simply put, biotech crops have changed the way people farm,” Brookes said.

According to Brookes, countries such as the United States, Canada and Argentina have led the way toward these environmental benefits by utilizing herbicide-tolerant crops to switch to no- and low-till crop production. There and elsewhere, insect-resistant biotech crops also have reduced sprayings. It all adds up to less tillage and reduced field operations, he said.

Brookes’ study estimates that since their commercialization in 1996, biotech crops have saved farmers 441 million gallons of fuel through reduced field operations – eliminating 4,613 million kg. of carbon dioxide emissions.

Disturbing the soil with conventional tillage releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. No- and low-tillage cropping systems that use biotech herbicide-tolerant varieties, Brookes said, leave more plant residue on the soil’s surface, sequestering the carbon and contributing to soil and water conservation.

Worldwide, use of biotech crops decreased the environmental impact of crop production associated with pesticide use by more than 15% as calculated using Environmental Impact Quotient (EIQ) methodology, according to the study.

Since 1996, herbicide tolerant and insect-resistant biotech crops reduced pesticide sprayings by 500 million pounds of active ingredient – a 6.9% reduction worldwide. That reduction is equivalent to about 35% of the annual volume of active ingredient applied to arable crops in the European Union.

Gains in Net Farm Income
Combining biotech insect-resistant and herbicide-tolerant traits in corn has boosted farm income by more than $3.1 billion since the traits’ introductions, Brookes noted. The largest gains in farm income have come from biotech soybean and largely from cost savings.   In 2005, herbicide-tolerant soybean generated $2.84 billion additional income – adding about 7% to the value of the crop in biotech soybean growing countries.

Brookes summarized that the economic and environmental benefits of biotech crops are fairly evenly divided between farmers in developed and developing countries. In 2005, farmers in developing countries captured 55% of the additional net farm income generated by biotech crops globally. Over the 1996-2005 period, farmers in developing countries accrued 48% of the environmental benefits, primarily from reduced crop protection product usage.

The study estimates were released this spring in a press conference sponsored by the U.S. Grains Council.  See the full report online,
www.grains.org.