Does GMO corn increase crop yields? 21 years of data confirm it does—and provides substantial health benefits

Paul McDivitt:

hile many studies show that genetically modified crops contribute to yield gains, GMO critics say that they don’t. Such claims, they say, are industry talking points drawn from industry-funded studies.

Most recently and notably, the New York Times’ Danny Hakim asserted in a 2016 front-page analysis that “genetic modification in the United States and Canada has not accelerated increases in crop yields.”

Organic food advocates, from Michael Pollan to the Environmental Working Group, often cite media articles or single studies to back up their views, as well as unpublished reports from groups such as the Union of Concerned Scientists. A widely disseminated ‘white paper’ written in 2009 and still on the UCS website claims, “For years the biotechnology industry has trumpeted that it will feed the world, promising that its genetically engineered crops will produce higher yields. That promise has proven to be empty.”