Conventional non-GM soybean production

Over the past 30 years soybean production has developed enormously in Brazil, with increases in both yields and area planted. The most spectacular growth has been in the state of Mato Grosso and the Cerrado area of central Brazil. Here soybean yields have more than doubled, whereas harvested areas have increased about tenfold. Given the relatively low cost of land clearing in Brazil, it is likely that soybean production will continue to increase in the years to come.

Intercropping - one feature of the agroecological system of soya production (diagram from “A farmer’s primer”)

During this period, soybean production systems have been able to reach this level of high performance with reduced costs because of strong inputs from public research. Conventional genetic improvement has permitted farmers in various ecosystems to choose from around 170 varieties. In addition, the widespread adoption of nitrogen-fixing bacteria (NFB) eliminated the use of expensive nitrogen fertilizers. Moreover, the major pest threat to soybean production in Brazil, the Anticarsia gemmatalis worm, is controlled with a cheap biological agent, Baculovirus anticarsia.

Considerable reduction of Soybean production costs have also been due to the fact that at least 30% of the seeds used are produced by the farmers themselves. More recently conventional soybean farmers have very rapidly adopted less costly direct sowing, no till methods. In this system herbicides are intensively applied to suppress weed infestation resulting in heavy leaching of residual chemicals.

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-Jovin

Tomatoes of tomorrow - good side of GM?

 On the left: these are called heirloom tomatoes, before they were genetically modified (right)! :O

Genetically engineered foods are mostly plant products (such as corn, soybeans, and potatoes) but the field of genetic alteration has expanded to contain animals and bacteria. 

 In 1994, the Flavr Savr tomato (tomato puree) was introduced as the first commercially grown genetically modified product to be licensed for human consumption. [Note: Licenses in the United States must be permitted by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval before the product can enter the public market.]  

Why do genetically modified foods exist? Researchers develop genetically modified foods for the purpose of creating an advantage to the producer or the consumer of these products. Such an advantage can be a new product which has greater overall benefits and can sell at a lower price compared to its competitors. The original objective for genetically modified food development was to enhance crop production, such as modifying a plant to age slower or to be resistant to diseases. Fun Fact #3: Nearly 40% of the world's food crop is lost every year to insects, fungal diseases and spoilage. By genetically modifying plants to be less susceptible to these factors, the overall worldwide crop yield would dramatically increase.


            Advancing technology in the field of Genetically Modifying Foods offers a promising window into solving some of the world's greatest challenges, such as poverty and malnutrition. The field of genetically modifying foods exists because it incorporates science into people's everyday lives. Be it creating plants that grow certain plastics or a banana that protects humans against Hepatitis B, scientists and researchers are working hard to expand the horizons of genetic modification. In fact, we may very well be manufacturing the tomato of tomorrow.

Posted by: Sandy
Taken from: http://geneticallymodifiedfood.synthasite.com/