How agricultural biotechnology boosts food supply and accomodates biofuels
By: Steven Sexton, David Zilberman
Contributors: Zilʹberman, David, 1934-; National Bureau of Economic Research
Series: NBER working paper series -- working paper 16699; Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research : Online) -- working paper no. 16699.
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Cambridge, MA
Language: eng
Format: Electronic resource
Description: "Increased global demand for biofuels is placing increased pressure on agricultural systems at a time when traditional sources of yield improvements have been mostly exhausted, generating concerns about the future of food prices.  This paper estimates the impact of global adoption of genetically engineered (GE) seeds on food supply by exploiting the spatial and temporal variation in the adoption of GE crops to identify the average yield effect due to GE technologies among adopters.  The yield gains range from 65% for GE cotton to 12.4% for soybeans and appear to be higher in the developing world than in developed countries.  The authors simulate food prices during the 2008 food crisis without GE-seed-induced yield gains.  Genetically engineered crops appear to play an important role in arbitrating tensions between energy production, environmental protection, and global food supplies"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.
Notes: Title from PDF file as viewed on 4/21/2011.

Includes bibliographical references.

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