Search results

This chapter analyzes the economic implications of genetic engineering for food security. We discuss the asynchronous nature of genetically modified (GM) crop regulation and labeling requirements among countries, associated politics, and consumer perceptions of GM crops.

We perform an ex-ante analysis of the introduction of a GM rice variety in major rice exporting and importing countries (including potential producer and consumer impacts) within the framework of a partial equilibrium trade model.

Although the introduction of a GM rice variety that increases global yield by 5% could result in a consumer gain of US$23.4 billion to US$74.8 billion, it could also result in a producer loss of US$9.7 billion to US$63.7 billion. The estimated net gain to society could be US$11.1 billion to US$13.7 billion. Overall, we find a positive economic surplus for major exporters and importers of rice based on a 5% supply increase with a GM rice variety.

The adoption of transgenic (GM) rice varieties would have a far greater impact on rice prices for poorer counties than for richer countries. Therefore, GM rice may help ensure that more people throughout the world would have food security.

The products of transgenic technology have captured the attention of enthusiasts and detractors, but transgenics are just one tool of agricultural biotechnology. Other applications enable scientists to understand biodiversity, to track genes through generations in breeding programs, and to move genes among closely related as well as unrelated organisms. These applications all have the potential to lead to substantial productivity gains.

In this chapter we provide an introduction to basic plant genetic concepts, defining molecular markers, transgenic and cisgenic techniques. We briefly summarize the status of commercialized biotechnology applications to agriculture. We consider the likely future commercialization of products like drought tolerant crops, crops designed to improve human nutrition, pharmaceuticals from transgenic plants, biofuels, and crops for environmental remediation. We identify genomic selection as a potentially powerful new technique and conclude with our reflections on the state of agricultural biotechnology.

Research at universities and other public-sector institutions, largely focused on advancing knowledge, has aroused enormous optimism about the promise of these DNA-based technologies. This in turn has led to large private-sector investments on maize, soybean, canola, and cotton, with wide adoption of the research products in about eight countries. Much has been made of the potential of biotechnology to address food needs in the low-income countries, and China, India, and Brazil have large public DNA-based crop variety development efforts. But other lower income developing countries have little capability to use these tools, even the most straightforward marker applications. Ensuring that these and other applications of biotechnology lead to products that are well adapted to local agriculture requires adaptive research capacity that is lacking in the lowest income, most food-insecure nations. We are less optimistic than many others that private research will fund these needs.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze changes in consumers’ knowledge and acceptance of genetically modified (GM) foods over the past decade and identifies the determinants in the consumer attitudes toward GM foods in urban China.

The data used in this study were collected from 952 urban consumers in 2013 in 15 provinces. The ordinal logit model was chosen to identify the determinants in the consumers’ subjective knowledge and acceptance of GM foods.

Results show that the consumers’ awareness of GM foods, biotech knowledge, and subjective knowledge improved significantly, while the acceptance rate toward GM foods declined considerably from 2002 to 2013. Moreover, the consumers’ subjective knowledge of GM foods had a significantly negative impact on their acceptance rate of GM foods. Finally, the media coverage with the “event of Golden rice in 2012” as a proxy helped consumers in shaping their negative perceptions toward GM foods, suggesting that the media coverage was one of major factors in leading to the low acceptance rate of GM foods in urban China.

The findings of previous studies conducted in the early 2000s might not reflect current Chinese consumer attitudes because the public opinion toward GM foods in modern China has considerably changed. This study thus filled in the void by updating estimates on consumer attitudes toward GM foods and by underlining the factors that have led to the changes in consumer attitudes, using a mass survey covering Chinese urban consumers in 15 provinces in 2013.

Transgenic crops have been increasingly adopted, produced and commercialized throughout the world. Correspondingly, the management of intellectual property rights concerning transgenic crops has gained importance. In this context, it is necessary to understand the status quo of transgenic crop production, especially in developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to provide a general scenario of transgenic crops and their growth around the world, especially in Latin America.

A literature review was carried out to determine the status of intellectual property protection, production and commercialization of transgenic crops.

Opinions concerning the risks and benefits of adopting transgenics are markedly divided. Its presence in the agricultural sector has undoubtedly taken a firm hold in different parts of the world. Nevertheless, there are some areas of the international transgenics industry that need further and ongoing discussion and assessment, such as biosafety, intellectual property, regulation and legislation, among others. Additionally, in developing countries, and especially in the case of Latin America, other relevant issues to be addressed are associated with the conservation of local plant varieties and the preservation of cultural values, as well as the development of endogenous technology to solve local problems and the integration of farmers and the society at large and their interests into the discussion.

The most significant limitation of the present study was the lack of available data. Future studies using larger data sets will allow for more robust statistical analyses. Additionally, country-specific studies focused on the most important crops, those that each country grows intensively, are necessary for a better insight into the global dynamics of the sector; these studies must stress the intellectual property mechanisms used and address biosafety and regulatory issues, among other areas.

The present study represents a starting point for establishing schemes to facilitate the proper development and management of transgenic technology based on regional interests and the guiding principles of ethics and biosecurity.

Genetically modified (GM) crops, particularly GM grain crops, have been controversial since their commercialization in 1996. However, only a few studies have investigated farmers’ attitudes toward adopting GM grain crops in China. The purpose of this paper is to explore farmers’ willingness to adopt GM insect-resistant rice prior to its commercial release in China and determines the factors that affect farmers’ prospective adoption decisions.

The data are collected using a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics are used to analyze the farmers’ potential willingness to adopt GM rice and level of awareness of GM rice and socioeconomic characteristics. Ordered and binary probit models are applied to identify the key factors that affect the farmers’ decision to adopt GM insect-resistant rice.

Descriptive statistics show that most farmers have little knowledge of GM rice, approximate 35.5 percent of farmers could plant GM rice, and over half of the respondents are uncertain whether or not they will adopt the new crops. The results of econometric analyses show that increasing output and income, and simplicity in crop management, have positive effects on prospective adoption, whereas the high-seed price of GM rice has a significantly negative effect. Health implications also have a significantly positive effect on the farmers’ decision to adopt GM grain crops. A comparative analysis of ordered and binary probit models demonstrates that farmers are more deliberate in their decisions when they have fewer choices. Aside from the above-mentioned variables, the following factors are also statistically significant in the probit model: government technicians’ recommendations, neighbors’ attitudes, level of environmental risks, and the farmer’s age.

Information on the major risks and benefits of GM rice was provided to the farmers in the questionnaire. The farmers were then asked to choose from the three ordered alternative answers, namely, “accept,” “uncertain,” and “reject”. Both ordered and binary probit models were applied to comparatively analyze the collected data. This study is one of a handful of studies that employ these econometric models to identify and explain the underlying factors that affect farmers’ decisions. The relevant findings have important implications for future agricultural policy in China.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the consumer acceptance of foods that are pesticide-free while obtained by cisgenics, a form of genetic modification that only allows gene transfers between sexually compatible species. Potential differences in acceptance between conventional and organic consumer segments are explored.

Data were collected from a survey, including a choice experiment, which was distributed to a consumer panel in Denmark. Survey responses were combined with actual purchase data among the same respondents and thereby providing information about the respondents’ share of organic consumption.

No consumer segment differentiated between pesticide-free, cisgenic bread and conventional alternatives. Conventional consumers preferred cisgenics over transgenics, while pesticide-free is not highly valued. Frequent organic consumers were having willingness-to-pay (WTP) a large premium for organic, indicating that they will continue to purchase such products even if cisgenic, pesticide-free products are introduced.

This paper provides insights on the potential reception of cisgenic food, and if there is a positive willingness to pay for a pesticide-free label if this is cisgenics. Moreover, the possibility to allow new breeding techniques in the organic requirements has been discussed, and this paper contributes with insights on the organic consumers’ preferences on this matter.

Since the 1980s agricultural biotech investments by the public sector have increased substantially in both China and India. In the last two decades there has also been a dramatic increase in private section investment in agricultural biotechnology particularly in India. The promise of major benefits of Bt cotton identified in early socioeconomic studies of Bt cotton has proven to be true. Bt cotton has spread to at least 66% and 85% of total cotton areas of China and India, respectively – wherever bollworm is a major problem. Bt cotton continues to control bollworm in both countries, and farmers continue as major beneficiaries rather than biotech or seed companies. The major impacts have been yield increases in India and reduced pesticides consumption in China. In China, evidence also suggests that Bt cotton has suppressed the bollworm population so that non-Bt cotton growers and producers of other crops that are susceptible to bollworm are also benefitting.

The chapter also provides evidence that in the near future Bt rice and Bt eggplant could have major positive impacts by reducing pesticide use and farmers’ exposure to chemical pesticides and increasing yields. Both crops were approved for commercial production by government biosafety regulators, but are not yet available for commercial cultivation.

Globalization has affected science inevitably with a motto of ‘Knowledge conquers the mind’. However, global efforts and harmonization are needed and are established through international rules, laws, norms and standards. The potentially positive and negative results of globalization have altered the production relations and complicated the demographic scale.

Purpose – The chapter examines the international welfare effects of biotech crop adoption, based on a transversal literature review and a case study of the introduction of genetically modified (GM) food crops in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Methodology/approach – The analysis is based on (a) a review of lessons from the applied economic literature and (b) simulations using an improved multimarket, multicountry, computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, calibrated with productivity hypotheses formulated with local scientists in the four Asian countries.

Findings – Results from the analysis show that, in the absence of trade-related regulations, GM crop adoption generates economic gains for adopting countries and importing non-adopters, that domestic regulations at adopters and especially non-adopters can reduce these gains, and that import regulations in other countries can also affect gains for exporting adopters. The case study illustrates these conclusions, but it also shows that net importers will mostly benefit from adoption in their terms of trade, and that segregation of non-GM crops for export markets can be beneficial if it is not too costly.

Research limitations/implications – The use of a CGE model allows for accounting for cross-sectoral effects, and for regulations affecting bilateral trade flows, but it also has a number of limitations. The model used here, like the ones used in the other papers in the literature, is static, based on an aggregated representation of the global economy (GTAP database), and assumes perfect competition. This means that the absolute results of each scenario may not perfectly represent the actual welfare effects engendered by the adoption of biotech crops. Still, what matters here is the comparison of the relative welfare effects across countries and scenarios. The simulations are also done ex-ante, so, even if the model here was calibrated with country-based data, the results do depend on hypothetical assumptions about the performance of the selected technologies.

Originality/value of the paper – The chapter aims to illustrate the welfare effects generated by GM crops for adopters, non-adopters, in a segmented and regulated international market. Unlike other papers, the review section provides key transversal lessons from the literature, accounting for results from both partial equilibrium and CGE model studies. The empirical application focuses on four populous Asian countries that have been largely left out of the literature. The model used in the simulation presents a number of improvement from the CGE literature on GM crops, including partial adoption, factor-biased productivity shock in each adopting country, GM labeling regulations modeled as trade filters, and the inclusion of costly non-GM segregation as observed in the international market.

The paper aims to investigate the iron, zinc, carotenoid, vitamin E, anthocyanin, and phenolic contents, antioxidant activity and the effect of the boiling of rice on such parameters.

Iron and zinc content were investigated using atomic absorption spectrometry. Meanwhile, simultaneous extraction and detection methods using high performance liquid chromatography were applied for carotenoids, tocopherol, and tocotrienol analyses. For anthocyanin and phenolic determination, pH differential method and Folin Ciocalteu method were used, respectively. Antioxidant activity of samples was examined using ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and superoxide radical scavenging methods.

The n790 cultivar has a higher iron, zinc γ tocopherol (1,869.64 mg/kg), α tocopherol (1,883.97 mg/kg), anthocyanin (205.54 mg cyanidin 3 glucoside equivalent/100 g dry matter), and phenolic (728.9 mg catechin equivalent/100 g dry matter) contents. Jowo cultivar has higher lutein (1,314.21 mg/kg), α carotene (823.29 mg/kg), and β carotene (71.73 mg/kg) contents. Meanwhile, γ tocotrienol is the most abundant tocotrienol found in all samples. N790 cultivar had the highest antioxidative potential in FRAP, and superoxide radical methods. Boiling did not significantly affect the zinc content, however, different response was found in carotenoid, tocopherol, and tocotrienol content. Moreover, boiling decreased the antioxidant activity of extract.

Black- and red-colored rice could substitute white rice in Indonesian diet to achieve better nutrient intake.

Providing information on nutrient and bioactive compound of Indonesian underutilized colored rice can help to change the dietary habit and to alleviate nutrient deficiency in Indonesia.