Global Positioning System: Decreasing Crop Chemical Application on with Technology

The genetically modified organisms help increase the resistance to crop diseases. Creating plants with genetically-engineered resistance to diseases such as pests and herbicides initially reduces the danger of crop letdowns. The crop losses from the insect pests are not only financially distressing to farmers but also in developing countries which lead to starvation. In addition, the decrease to the elimination of pesticide use helps reduce the overall cost of bringing crops to market. This benefits both the farmer and the consumer.

For example, factory farming is very efficient. By using less space the farmer actually saves money when factory farming, making the profit from selling the produce greater. Also, factory farming allows development of hybrid plants that are disease resistant. By plants becoming disease resistant the animals that eat the plants are becoming less prone to disease. This then helps the consumer who eats the animal because they are eating disease resistant food that allows them to have a better percentage of not catching harmful diseases.

One may say that agricultural biotechnology is a great way to reduce famine because genetically modified crops can be grown to produce more food than crops that was not genetically engineered. Just like every other creations, GMO has both advantages and disadvantages. One advantage of agricultural biotechnology is that agricultural biotechnology can reduce the use of fuel, water and it can permit more crops to be grow in many climates. In article #2 “What is Agricultural Biotechnology?” it states that, “Agricultural biotechnology can help to tackle climate change, by reducing fuel use and carbon dioxide emissions, by reducing soil erosion, as well as enabling crops to be grown in increasingly variable climatic conditions.” This quote substantiates my claim because it states everything I said except adding more on to it. It stated how agricultural biotechnology is beneficial to the environment by reducing carbon dioxide and fuel use which may cause pollution.

FSustainable crop production is in contrast to industrial crop production, G which generally relies upon monocropping (growing only one crop in a large area of land), intensive application of commercial fertilizers, heavy use of pesticides, and other inputs that are damaging to the environment, to communities, and to farm workers. In addition, sustainable crop production practices can lead to higher yields over time, with less need for expensive and environmentally

The genetically modified crops are those crops whose genetic material has been altered. Oniang'o (2011) identified that genetically modified foods can be achieved through: • Traditional variety and breeding • Scientific modification of the crops (p. 1). The major focus is on scientific modification of food and its role in the eradication of poverty and hunger across the globe. With research findings such traditional biotechnology which has the potential of producing quality and yields of plants and animals by means such as selective breeding, biotechnology through innovations and developments of genetic engineering have lead to increased agricultural production. Genetic engineering produces foods of high quality and super foods that are less costly to produce grow rapid in large quantities and are vastly nutritious in micronutrients.

Well GMO’s allows food flavors to become enhanced because they are engineered, corn can become extra sweeter, peppers can become spicier, and the flavor can be enhanced without losing its nutrients. GMOs have better resistance to diseases, as well as pests. The GMO’s can allow plants have their own vaccine because a vaccine can be encoded into them genetically. Because of genetic modification the crops can be made to carry more vitamins and make it possible to increase the health of the people consuming the food. This benefit is especially important for food consumers in developing countries where people don’t always have access to essential nutritional resources.

You can eat less meat, choose sustainably produced food, use organic farming, and cut food waste. Expanding safer way to produce food can have many benefits, which, outweigh the harmful effects. In fact, our environment would be more sustainable than it was since the industrialization era began. Switching to one of the things listed can be a life changing benefit. Industrialized agriculture contaminates our food that is also globally exported.

Crops that have been genetically modified to have a particular trait can decrease the amount of herbicides needed for growing that crop. Additionally, genetically modified (GM) crops can help third world countries, where malnutrition is common. For example, to help diminish nutrient deficiencies in developing countries, “plans were underway to develop a golden rice that also has increased iron content”(Whitman 2). In addition, GM crops can be modified to be able to “withstand the environmental challenges of drought, disease, and insect infestation” (Swenson 1). Growing GM crops can also result in fruits and vegetables that stay fresh for a prolonged period of time and taste better.

The natural balance in minerals and nutrients released from these foods has been linked to the enhancement of soil productivity, therefore producing more potassium, phosphate, calcium, magnesium. Organic farmers have replaced chemical fertilizers with organic, all natural fertilizers, which has decreases the pollution found in ground water from the years upon years of harmful substances and now enhances the natural water filtration. The increase in carbon returning to the soil has promoted a decrease in the amount of pollution returning to the agricultural system, resulting in an improvement in the air and climate surrounding. Not only does organic farming improve the surrounding environment and atmosphere, but also the

These altered plants produce more fruit per acre than traditional methods of farming while protecting the species from insects, environmental changes, and mutations. The output coupled with the benefits of environmental protection yield better products at a cheaper price for consumers. Adam Smith would favor the technologies of genetic modification because the fertility of the land increases, as well as its abundance. This growth results in more agricultural products on the market that require less land for cultivation, and no increase in labor. The consumer is then presented with a cheaper price because there eliminates the need to incur great labor costs and, at times, crop protection inputs such as pesticides.