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GMO is largely about implanting resistance against herbicides such as glyphosate or genes for the production of pesticides like the BT-gene. Both are there to s

GMO is largely about implanting resistance against herbicides such as glyphosate or genes for the production of pesticides like the BT-gene. Both are there to support pesticide heavy monocultures of which we are seeing the negative effects unfolding. Most of the food is still farmed by poor small scale farmers, which are often more efficient than large-scale farmers.

Entalpi 8y ago
Bacteria modfied to produce human insulin is technically an GMO. It has also saved a lot of lives.
- legulere 8y ago
  You're right. I should have specified that I meant genetically modified crops specifically
8077628 8y ago
>GMO is largely about implanting resistance against herbicides such as glyphosate or genes for the production of pesticides like the BT-gene. Both are there to support pesticide heavy monocultures of which we are seeing the negative effects unfolding. Except the BT gene is exactly the opposite of a pesticide-heavy monoculture. The point is to make spraying unnecessary. Do you usually just invert the reality of things that clash with your preferred narrative? >Most of the food is still farmed by poor small scale farmers, which are often more efficient than large-scale farmers. Curious about this claim, I found https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural_productivity#Sources_of_agricultural_productivity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural_productivity#Sour...: Some sources of agricultural productivity are: -Mechanization -High yield varieties, which were the basis of the Green revolution -Fertilizers: Primary plant nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium[5][6] and secondary nutrients such as sulfur, zinc, copper, manganese, calcium, magnesium and molybdenum on deficient soil -Education in management and entrepreneurial techniques to decrease fixed and variable costs and optimise manpower -Liming of acid soils to raise pH and to provide calcium and magnesium -Irrigation -Herbicides -Genetic engineering -Pesticides -Increased plant density -Animal feed made more digestible by processing -Keeping animals indoors in cold weather I don't think any of these correlate with smaller farm size. Do you have any sources?
- legulere 8y ago
  The BT-Gene just puts the production of pesticides into the plant. That doesn’t magically make them not pesticides anymore. Some quotes from a UN report: Smallholders manage over 80 per cent of the world’s estimated 500 million small farms and provide over 80 per cent of the food consumed in a large part of the developing world. Moreover, multiple studies have found that smallholdings are relatively more productive per hectare than large-scale plantations (Feder 1985; Barrett 1993; Banerjee, Gertler and Ghatak 1998; Rosset 1999; Borras, Kay and Akram-Lodhi 2007) and are also more resource-efficient (Altieri and Koohafkan 2008). https://www.ifad.org/documents/10180/666cac24-14b6-43c2-876d-9c2d1f01d5dd https://www.ifad.org/documents/10180/666cac24-14b6-43c2-876d...

Entalpi 8y ago

Bacteria modfied to produce human insulin is technically an GMO. It has also saved a lot of lives.

legulere 8y ago
You're right. I should have specified that I meant genetically modified crops specifically

8077628 8y ago

>GMO is largely about implanting resistance against herbicides such as glyphosate or genes for the production of pesticides like the BT-gene. Both are there to support pesticide heavy monocultures of which we are seeing the negative effects unfolding. Except the BT gene is exactly the opposite of a pesticide-heavy monoculture. The point is to make spraying unnecessary. Do you usually just invert the reality of things that clash with your preferred narrative? >Most of the food is still farmed by poor small scale farmers, which are often more efficient than large-scale farmers. Curious about this claim, I found https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural_productivity#Sources_of_agricultural_productivity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural_productivity#Sour...: Some sources of agricultural productivity are: -Mechanization -High yield varieties, which were the basis of the Green revolution -Fertilizers: Primary plant nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium[5][6] and secondary nutrients such as sulfur, zinc, copper, manganese, calcium, magnesium and molybdenum on deficient soil -Education in management and entrepreneurial techniques to decrease fixed and variable costs and optimise manpower -Liming of acid soils to raise pH and to provide calcium and magnesium -Irrigation -Herbicides -Genetic engineering -Pesticides -Increased plant density -Animal feed made more digestible by processing -Keeping animals indoors in cold weather I don't think any of these correlate with smaller farm size. Do you have any sources?

legulere 8y ago
The BT-Gene just puts the production of pesticides into the plant. That doesn’t magically make them not pesticides anymore. Some quotes from a UN report: Smallholders manage over 80 per cent of the world’s estimated 500 million small farms and provide over 80 per cent of the food consumed in a large part of the developing world. Moreover, multiple studies have found that smallholdings are relatively more productive per hectare than large-scale plantations (Feder 1985; Barrett 1993; Banerjee, Gertler and Ghatak 1998; Rosset 1999; Borras, Kay and Akram-Lodhi 2007) and are also more resource-efficient (Altieri and Koohafkan 2008). https://www.ifad.org/documents/10180/666cac24-14b6-43c2-876d-9c2d1f01d5dd https://www.ifad.org/documents/10180/666cac24-14b6-43c2-876d...