CLIMATE CHANGE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM SEED AND CROP TECHNOLOGIES

CLIMATE CHANGE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM SEED AND CROP TECHNOLOGIES.

The objective of this report is to provide a summary of peer-reviewed literature for articles that provide evidence that innovations in plant breeding technologies and crop protection products, including biologicals, have contributed, or are contributing to climate change mitigation and adaption. While there are a range of technologies and products that contribute to climate change mitigation and adaption, much of the literature is directed to the development of genetically modified (GM) traits, their use in major commodity crops, the global adoption of GM crops, and responsive changes in production techniques. This is partly because the introduction of these contested traits have focused public research on their impacts and use. Jointly, these technologies and products are leading to significant contributions to climate change mitigation and adaptation. Overall, the literature steadily points to the accumulated impact of new technologies, especially GM crops, on the sustainability of crop production. The literature landscape analysis undertaken indicates that the literature is evolving and becoming more sophisticated, and qualitative improvements in research methodologies are emerging. As agriculture is called upon to make, and to precisely quantify, contributions to mitigation and adaption, there is likely to be pressure on the sector to improve the quantity and quality of published research, likely well beyond the relatively narrow focus on GM traits.