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Mass Releases of Genetically Modified Insects in Area-Wide Pest Control Programs and Their Impact on Organic Farmers

Author

Listed:
  • R. Guy Reeves

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, 24306 Plön, Germany)

  • Martin Phillipson

    (College of Law, University of Saskatchewan, S7N 5A6 Saskatoon, Canada)

Abstract

The mass release of irradiated insects to reduce the size of agricultural pest populations of the same species has a more than 50-year record of success. Using these techniques, insect pests can be suppressed without necessarily dispersing chemical insecticides into the environment. Ongoing release programs include the suppression of medfly at numerous locations around the globe (e.g., California, Chile and Israel) and the pink bollworm eradication program across the southern USA and northern Mexico. These, and other successful area-wide programs, encompass a large number of diverse organic farms without incident. More recently, mass release techniques have been proposed that involve the release of genetically modified insects. Given that the intentional use of genetically modified organisms by farmers will in many jurisdictions preclude organic certification, this prohibits the deliberate use of this technology by organic farmers. However, mass releases of flying insects are not generally conducted by individual farmers but are done on a regional basis, often without the explicit consent of all situated farms (frequently under the auspices of government agencies or growers’ collectives). Consequently, there exists the realistic prospect of organic farms becoming involved in genetically modified insect releases as part of area-wide programs or experiments. Herein, we describe genetically modified insects engineered for mass release and examine their potential impacts on organic farmers, both intended and unintended. This is done both generally and also focusing on a hypothetical organic farm located near an approved experimental release of genetically modified (GM) diamondback moths in New York State (USA).

Suggested Citation

  • R. Guy Reeves & Martin Phillipson, 2017. "Mass Releases of Genetically Modified Insects in Area-Wide Pest Control Programs and Their Impact on Organic Farmers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-24, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:1:p:59-:d:86728
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Colin A. Carter & Aaron Smith, 2007. "Estimating the Market Effect of a Food Scare: The Case of Genetically Modified StarLink Corn," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 89(3), pages 522-533, August.
    2. Fern Wickson & Rosa Binimelis & Amaranta Herrero, 2016. "Should Organic Agriculture Maintain Its Opposition to GM? New Techniques Writing the Same Old Story," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-19, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Gerhart U. Ryffel, 2017. "I Have a Dream: Organic Movements Include Gene Manipulation to Improve Sustainable Farming," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-9, March.
    2. Jones, Michael S. & Brown, Zachary S., 2023. "Food for thought: Assessing the consumer welfare impacts of deploying irreversible, landscape-scale biotechnologies," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).

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