MSc Chemistry, MSc Organic Farming SRUC, Biodynamic Agriculture Cert. Emerson College, MBA Advanced Farm Management RAU
"Much of the existing literature focuses on the direct effects of GM crop adoption on agricultural outcomes and, to a lesser extent, its implications for the environment and human health. Recent studies employing causal inference methods have contributed to our understanding of the combined direct and indirect impacts of GM crop adoption through environmental management changes, including effects on yields, deforestation, biodiversity, and human health. Their findings paint a nuanced picture of GM crop adoption, with mostly positive impacts on yields and mixed effects on pesticide use, biodiversity, deforestation, and human health. These studies also find negative health effects from increased glyphosate use, possibly counteracted by reduced toxicity of insecticide applications due to the adoption of insect-resistant GM crops. However, the few studies that evaluate long-term consequences suggest that short-term benefits may decrease if pest resistance is not well managed. In addition, new results show that GM crop adoption increases deforestation locally, in contrast to previous studies that found a land-sparing global effect of GM crop adoption. Lastly, the evidence for the impacts of GM crop adoption on biodiversity is mixed. For example, a recent study found that although the overall impact of GM crops on bird diversity is small, the overall effect is composed of positive effects on insectivorous species and negative effects on plant and seed-eating species. While these studies greatly advance our understanding of the direct and indirect environmental effects of GM crops, they still do not fully assess the spillover effects on areas and regions that have not adopted GM crops" https://lnkd.in/d4z2PvEV