Drought Tolerant Corn

by Natasha Chart · 2009-03-20 12:57:00 UTC
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Corn row; by just a name thingieMonsanto and Pioneer both want to sell drought tolerant GM corn to save the day in the face of increasing water shortages.

It goes without saying that they're claiming it's perfectly safe. Just as they insist that the GM corn they want to grow in Europe is perfectly safe, even though a study recently turned up decreased reproduction rates in mice that fed on it.

But there's a question about it that should make even the most anti-precautionist forces step back and ask if it'll be worth the technical fees assessed on GM seeds: how well does it work? Meredith Niles writes about Australian research findings at Grist:

... In the analysis stated, "The most notable and problematic (effect) is the tendency of drought-tolerant GM lines to not perform as well under favourable conditions. This appears to be the case for CIMMYT's GM wheat and Monsanto's GM corn. The flaw is a profound one. It amounts to shifting the yield losses experienced in dry seasons onto the good years." In essence, farmers might get a small bump in yield during droughts, but will suffer yield losses when conditions are favorable. ...

As Niles goes on to explain, recent published research by the Rodale Institute has also shown that organic systems yield 28 to 34 percent more than conventional systems when water availability drops by 30 percent. Organic management allows soils to naturally hold more water and keep it around for the plants.

But you can't patent that, so it isn't going to get heralded as the new hotness that will save humanity.

(Photo credit: just a name thingie on Flickr.)

Natasha Chart
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