For and Against GM Crops

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  • Created by: EMBROWN23
  • Created on: 05-01-16 20:57

For and Against GM Crops

Advantages

  • We have been doing it for years, most of our crops come from wild plants.
  • We can grow more crops, while using less weed killer. This makes it more profitable.
  • They don't have to spray insecticide on crops, meaning it is better for the environment and farmers save money as they don't have to buy the sprays.
  • This would help in parts of the world where food production needs to be increased. For example Africa's food production is falling.
  • Diseases have affected plants in Africa, GM crops can be the answer to this by growing banana plants which are resistant to diseases. This can increase banana production by 60%.
  • You can add extra vitamins into flood like rice, this is known as golden rice which contains vitamin A and helps to reduce vitamin A deficiency which is deadly in developing countries like the Philippines.
  • Produce higher yields as the population grows.

Disadvantages

  • Forests are being cut down to grow more crops. This reduces biodiversity and reduces wildlife.
  • Farmers believe it will affect their crops an contaminate them if they don't grow GM crops
  • Uncertain of the risks, not sure what effect they have on humans or animals as we have not done long term testing.
  • Super bugs/ super weeds can be created meaning more and more pesticide has to be used which can have a negative effect on the environment.
  • Food security can be achieved by changing the distribution of food rather than producing more and MEDC'S like the UK waste around 7 million tonnes of food every year.

Evaluation

Overall I believe that GM Crops can help produce higher yields and prevent famine in countries like Africa and help reduce the amount of pesticides which are used which will be better for the environment. However if we just grow one plant (monoculture) this reduces the biodiversity and reduces the amount of wildlife.

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