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Advantages And Disadvantages Of Genetically Modified Crops

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Is the production of Genetically Modified (GM) foods a solution to the food crisis or a disaster in the making? Genetically modified crops are crops that are created using genetic engineering methods i.e. the manipulation of genes in plants and crops to obtain a new generation of crops that have the most desirable traits. The genetic modification of crops comes with both advantages and disadvantages. The advantages being: 1) Crops are more productive and can produce higher yields than normal crops as they are disease and virus resistant. 2) GM crops can be freeze tolerant and drought resistant. This allows for plants and crops to grow and survive in harsh environments where normal crops wouldn’t be able to grow such as stone tomatoes and bush beans which are drought resistant and some potato and tobacco plants which contain a cold tolerance anti- freeze gene from a cold water fish and can help the plant to survive in extremely cold, frosty conditions. 3) GM crops are pest resistant and herbicide resistant (farmers can use weed killers to kill weeds surrounding the GM crops and this will not kill the GM crop thus also increasing the yield of the crops). 4) The higher yields due to the crops being disease, virus, drought, pest and herbicide resistant decreases the demand for the crops (increased availability) which in turn …show more content…

This labelling requirement is further imposed and highlighted under the Consumer Protection Act. This act states that if food products have a GM content of at least 5% it must indicate “contains GMO’s” on the packaging. There is also the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) to protect South Africa’s biodiversity and ecosystems from potential GM activity

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