Insect-Resistant GM Rice in Farmers' Fields: Assessing Productivity and Health Effects in China (2005)

This paper is relevant to the Agronomic, Safety & Health Impact, Socio-Economic, and Environmental categories in the following areas:

Abstract or Summary:

Although no country to date has released a major genetically modified (GM) food grain crop, China is on the threshold of commercializing GM rice. This paper studies two of the four GM varieties that are now in farm-level pre-production trials, the last step before commercialization. Farm surveys of randomly selected farm households that are cultivating the insect-resistant GM rice varieties, without the aid of experimental station technicians, demonstrate that when compared with households cultivating non-GM rice, small and poor farm households benefit from adopting GM rice by both higher crop yields and reduced use of pesticides, which also contribute to improved health.

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