Economic and agronomic impact of commercialised GM crops: A meta-analysis

This paper presents a meta-analysis of the economic and agronomic performance of genetically modified (GM) crops worldwide. A Bayesian, classical and non-parametric approaches were used to evaluate the performance of GM crops versus their conventional counterparts. The two main GM crop traits -herbicide tolerant (HT) and insect resistant (Bt) - and three of the main GM crops produced worldwide -Bt cotton, HT soybean and Bt maizewere analysed in terms of yield, production cost and gross margin. The scope of the analysis covers developing and developed countries; 6 world regions; and all countries as a whole. Results from statistical analyses indicate that GM crops perform better than their conventional counterparts in agronomic and economic (gross margin) terms. Regarding countries' level of development, GM crops tend to perform better in developing countries than in developed countries, being Bt cotton the most profitable crop grown.

AREAL Francisco;  RIESGO Laura;  RODRIGUEZ CEREZO Emilio; 

2012-06-28

CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS

JRC68358

0021-8596,   

http://journals.cambridge.org/,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC68358,   

10.1017/S0021859612000111,