Genetically Modified (GM) Crops - Test 3

C1 Advanced · Cross Text Multiple Matching · C1 Advanced Trainer 2, Cambridge University Press

You are going to read four extracts from articles in which experts give their views on genetically modified crops. For questions 1–4, choose from the experts A–D. The experts may be chosen more than once.

The world has seen very rapid population growth in the last 50 years, and the world’s population currently exceeds 7 billion and is forecast to rise beyond 11 billion by 2100. Ensuring an adequate food supply for everyone is a tremendous challenge. Without a massive increase in the quality and deployment of GM crops, unimaginable numbers are likely to go hungry. GM crop farming has taken off in some parts of the world – mainly the USA, Brazil, Argentina, India and Canada – with productivity in these countries improving significantly, generating welcome financial returns for growers. There are other benefits too. The cultivation of insect-resistant and herbicide-tolerant strains of soya beans and maize, for example, means that fewer chemical products are required than for conventional crops. This reduces the exposure of both people and local ecosystems to toxic materials, which has positive long-term consequences for both.

A recent study raised concerns about allergen levels in GM crops. Genetic modification often adds or mixes proteins that were not native to the original plant and which might cause new allergic reactions in the human body. In other cases, the introduction of GM crops was found to have decimated a butterfly population dependent on the varieties of plants that had been replaced, and other comparable worrying occurrences have been observed. The conclusion is that much more investigation is needed before such crops should be deregulated. This research is costly, however, and there’s a convincing argument that the money would be better invested in improved roads and transportation. The truth is that food supplies have never been more abundant; they just don’t get to everyone who needs them. GM technology won’t solve this problem. In fact, GM seeds are expensive and growers are increasingly in debt and tied to a handful of large, profit-driven suppliers.

Proponents of GM technology will claim it’s the only viable way to improve productivity sufficiently to meet the needs of a burgeoning global population. The real problem, however, isn’t that there isn’t enough food for all, but that what is available isn’t distributed efficiently or fairly. GM crop users favour the technology because it simplifies their weed and pest management, bringing savings and improved profit margins. At the same time, certain lines of development are clearly promising. ‘Golden rice’, for example, is a bio-fortified GM crop which could help thousands of children around the world overcome vitamin A deficiency, and scientists are working on other projects to provide similarly nutritional enhancements. On the other hand, the simplified weed and pest management of GM technology tends to encourage monocultural farming – huge tracts of land are entirely devoted to the cultivation of soya beans, for example – and the elimination of biodiversity like this has adverse consequences.

Any major shift in the way we produce food is bound to have certain undesirable results for some people, and opposition to large-scale GM farming is, to a degree, understandable. The evidence for the value of developing herbicide-tolerant and insect-resistant traits in certain key crops is overwhelming, however. They don’t require nearly so much spraying of crops or ploughing and tilling of the soil, which, in turn, helps to conserve soil moisture and control erosion. It also means that GM farmers use heavy machinery less than their non-GM counterparts and this lowers their carbon footprint. Higher yields and lower pest management and labour costs mean that GM crop producers gain enhanced revenues. There is also great potential in the engineering of plants with superior levels of protein, essential fats and minerals. They are yet to be commercialised, but will be a valuable addition to our future diets.

Which expert has a different view from C regarding whether more GM crops are necessary to feed the world?

Which expert shares B’s view on whether GM crops cause environmental damage?

Which expert expresses a different view from the other three experts about the impact GM crops have on farmers?

Which expert has a different view from D regarding the effect GM crops may have on human health?

Genetically modified (GM) crops

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