Time to re-think the GMO revolution in agriculture
Seeds of major crop cultivars provide a vital genetic and cultural link from one human generation to the next. Information embodied in seed is essential to continuity of food production, adaptation to changing climate, and evolution of human society. Introduction of transgenic (GMO) technologies sim...
| Autores principales: | , , , , , |
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| Formato: | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
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2018
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| Acceso en línea: | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S157495411400048X http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/2507 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2014.05.002 |
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| author | Rotolo, Gloria Claudia Francis, C.A. Craviotto, Roque Mario Viglia, S. Pereyra, A. Ulgiati, Sergio |
| author_browse | Craviotto, Roque Mario Francis, C.A. Pereyra, A. Rotolo, Gloria Claudia Ulgiati, Sergio Viglia, S. |
| author_facet | Rotolo, Gloria Claudia Francis, C.A. Craviotto, Roque Mario Viglia, S. Pereyra, A. Ulgiati, Sergio |
| author_sort | Rotolo, Gloria Claudia |
| collection | INTA Digital |
| description | Seeds of major crop cultivars provide a vital genetic and cultural link from one human generation to the next. Information embodied in seed is essential to continuity of food production, adaptation to changing climate, and evolution of human society. Introduction of transgenic (GMO) technologies simplifies management, appears profitable for seed companies and farmers, and promotes efficient industrialization of agriculture, although there is ongoing debate about potential of GMO varieties to increase genetic yield potential. Although short-term profits are one measure of success, there are other methods to evaluate long-term sustainability that are not accounted for in the market place. Emergy analysis accounts for biophysical, economic, environmental and information costs in seed production. It was used to calculate resource demand of GMO seed development and production for sale to farmers and to explore the direct and indirect environmental costs for storing new information. This includes initial transformation through testing to commercial seed production, and emphasizes environmental accounting. Maize (Zea mays L.) and soybean (Glycine max L.) seed production in Argentina are used to evaluate the GMO breeding strategy. We used our calculations for conventional hybrids and varieties as well as emergy evaluation of crop production from literature as references. Analysis of the GMO process was divided into a) identification and isolation of a desired gene and transfer into another genome; b) transfer of the chosen trait into a selected commercial line of maize or variety of soybean; and c) trials for adaptation and seed multiplication to obtain commercial products for sale to farmers. Comparable emergy used for conventional hybrids and varieties comes from steps b) and c). Results from step c) showed a low reliance of the GMO process on renewable resources (8%–12%); a lower or similar efficiency in converting input resources into the desired output compared to non-GMO crop production from other studies and our estimates from conventional seed production; and a high contribution from services (indirect labor, around 70% of total emergy). The resource investments for using, extracting and transforming available information of present GMO strategies are not commensurate with achieved results, and may increase due to unanticipated ecosystem reactions over the long term due to a continuous rebound effect. |
| format | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| id | INTA2507 |
| institution | Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina) |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publishDateRange | 2018 |
| publishDateSort | 2018 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | INTA25072019-01-25T18:49:06Z Time to re-think the GMO revolution in agriculture Rotolo, Gloria Claudia Francis, C.A. Craviotto, Roque Mario Viglia, S. Pereyra, A. Ulgiati, Sergio Agricultura Innovación Organismos Modificados Genéticamente Cultivos Medio Ambiente Agriculture Innovation Genetically Modified Organisms Crops Environment GMO Seeds of major crop cultivars provide a vital genetic and cultural link from one human generation to the next. Information embodied in seed is essential to continuity of food production, adaptation to changing climate, and evolution of human society. Introduction of transgenic (GMO) technologies simplifies management, appears profitable for seed companies and farmers, and promotes efficient industrialization of agriculture, although there is ongoing debate about potential of GMO varieties to increase genetic yield potential. Although short-term profits are one measure of success, there are other methods to evaluate long-term sustainability that are not accounted for in the market place. Emergy analysis accounts for biophysical, economic, environmental and information costs in seed production. It was used to calculate resource demand of GMO seed development and production for sale to farmers and to explore the direct and indirect environmental costs for storing new information. This includes initial transformation through testing to commercial seed production, and emphasizes environmental accounting. Maize (Zea mays L.) and soybean (Glycine max L.) seed production in Argentina are used to evaluate the GMO breeding strategy. We used our calculations for conventional hybrids and varieties as well as emergy evaluation of crop production from literature as references. Analysis of the GMO process was divided into a) identification and isolation of a desired gene and transfer into another genome; b) transfer of the chosen trait into a selected commercial line of maize or variety of soybean; and c) trials for adaptation and seed multiplication to obtain commercial products for sale to farmers. Comparable emergy used for conventional hybrids and varieties comes from steps b) and c). Results from step c) showed a low reliance of the GMO process on renewable resources (8%–12%); a lower or similar efficiency in converting input resources into the desired output compared to non-GMO crop production from other studies and our estimates from conventional seed production; and a high contribution from services (indirect labor, around 70% of total emergy). The resource investments for using, extracting and transforming available information of present GMO strategies are not commensurate with achieved results, and may increase due to unanticipated ecosystem reactions over the long term due to a continuous rebound effect. EEA Oliveros Fil: Rotolo, Gloria Claudia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Oliveros; Argentina Fil: Francis, C.A. University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Department of Agronomy and Horticulture; Estados Unidos. Norwegian University of Life Sciences. Department of Plant Science; Noruega. Fil: Craviotto, Roque Mario. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Oliveros; Argentina Fil: Viglia, S. Parthenope University. Department of Science for the Environmental; Italia Fil: Pereyra, A. Criadero de Semillas ACA CL; Argentina Fil: Ulgiati, S. Parthenope University. Department of Science for the Environmental; Italia 2018-05-29T14:32:06Z 2018-05-29T14:32:06Z 2015-03 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S157495411400048X http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/2507 1574-9541 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2014.05.002 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess application/pdf Ecological Informatics 26, Part 1 : 35-49. (March 2015) |
| spellingShingle | Agricultura Innovación Organismos Modificados Genéticamente Cultivos Medio Ambiente Agriculture Innovation Genetically Modified Organisms Crops Environment GMO Rotolo, Gloria Claudia Francis, C.A. Craviotto, Roque Mario Viglia, S. Pereyra, A. Ulgiati, Sergio Time to re-think the GMO revolution in agriculture |
| title | Time to re-think the GMO revolution in agriculture |
| title_full | Time to re-think the GMO revolution in agriculture |
| title_fullStr | Time to re-think the GMO revolution in agriculture |
| title_full_unstemmed | Time to re-think the GMO revolution in agriculture |
| title_short | Time to re-think the GMO revolution in agriculture |
| title_sort | time to re think the gmo revolution in agriculture |
| topic | Agricultura Innovación Organismos Modificados Genéticamente Cultivos Medio Ambiente Agriculture Innovation Genetically Modified Organisms Crops Environment GMO |
| url | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S157495411400048X http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/2507 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2014.05.002 |
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