WANDILE SIHLOBO: SA maize yields prove GM is the way to go
Consumers may remain leery of ‘genetically modified’, but its many benefits, not only in yields, reveal its vital contribution to food security
Society still argues about the use of genetically modified (GM) crops. While some sentiments may be centered around consumer perceptions, empirical evidence has showcased two advantages in yields and savings on inputs that are difficult to contest.
First, the GM crops have contributed to an increase in yields in countries that have adopted the seeds, most notably the US, Brazil and Argentina among others. This is evidenced in a working paper by agricultural economists, Jayson Lusk, Jesse Tack and Nathan Hendricks, published in the National Bureau of Economic Research, an American private non-profit research organisation, in June 2017 (see here (https://www.nber.org/papers/w23519.pdf))...
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