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GM crops have fewer environmental impacts than conventional crops, says a new study. The report, Probability functions to build composite indicators: A methodology to measure environmental impacts of genetically-modified crops, is a meta-analysis of all previous studies around the world and was published in Ecological Indicators in January. The two authors Francisco Areal, an agricultural professor at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, and Laura Riesgo, an economics professor at Pablo de Olavide University in Spain say “results show that GM crops outperform conventional crops in three indicators related with pesticide use, such as number of sprays, kilograms of active ingredient and kilograms of pesticide per hectare.” The study says GM crops require less pesticide spray than conventional crops. The authors say that previous meta-analyses already show GM crops outperform conventional crops in agronomic and in economic terms. |
