Modern Bio- and Gene Technologies and the Future of Food Production

Abstract

The history of food production is a history of continuous innovation to secure and improve the supply of wholesome, convenient, tasty and affordable food. We are now at the dawn of yet another innovation that will fundamentally influence farming and food processing over the next few decades. Last year marked the first large scale introduction of genetically modified crops into the world commodity markets: genetically engineered varieties of cotton, soybeans, maize, canola (rapeseed), tomatoes, potatoes, and squash were grown on more than 12 million hectares in the United States, Canada, China, Argentina, Australia and Mexico. This is almost precisely the total size of England. The advantages for farmers are obvious: 25% less herbicide; 5–10% higher crop yield; dramatic reduction of chemical pesticides. At the same time there is a certain degree of resistance against these developments, expressed mainly by some consumer and environmentalist groups in Western and Northern Europe. Whether this initial resistance will have an impact on the world-wide commercialisation of these innovative crops remains to be seen. At present, the global market in transgenic plants is estimated to grow rapidly to $ 2 billion by the year 2000, increasing to around $ 6 billion by 2005.