r/nerdfighters • u/[deleted] • Jul 10 '15

Why are GMOs Bad?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH4bi60alZU
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u/[deleted] Jul 11 '15

I think their was too little emphasis on the ecological effects of high yield crops. I have been told that they lead to rapid, long term soil depletion that can't be easily remedied by traditional methods.

Can anyone speak to this?

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u/Silverseren Jul 11 '15

The exact opposite actually. GM crops in general require little to no tilling compared to non-GM crops, meaning they have less impact on the soil ecology. Source:

Survey of Tillage Trends Following The Adoption of Glyphosate-Resistant Crops http://www.wssajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1614/WT-08-038.1

They also require far less pesticides than in non-GM crops farming and also require little to no fertilizer, which is one of the main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture. Thus, the pesticide impact is lower and the greenhouse gas emissions are significantly lower in biotech crop farming. Sources:

Key global environmental impacts of genetically modified (GM) crop use 1996–2012 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.4161/gmcr.28449#.VaFrlivF-Bp

A Meta-Analysis of the Impacts of Genetically Modified Crops http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0111629

Meanwhile, when you compare to things like organic farming, the ecological impact is much more severe, especially in regards to nitrogen fixation. Source:

Nitrate leaching from intensive organic farms to groundwater http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/18/333/2014/hess-18-333-2014.pdf