The gene revolution - GM crops and farming reality

摘要

Our Green Revolution is near spent. The enormous and lasting gains made in crop yield through conventional plant breeding, mechanization, crop protection and clever agronomy are slowing. But the next era for mainstream broadacre farming is already here, it might well be called the Gene Revolution. More than 95 per cent of Australia's near 400,000 hectare cotton crop this summer consists of GM varieties. And in only the third year of commercial production, there are some 133,300 hectares of GM canolain NSW, Victoria and WA this spring - an estimated nine per cent of the total canola crop.