A ban on genetically modified (GM) crops in the European Union hurts
productivity, according to retired Montana State University Economics
Professor Gary Brester. At the Montana Farm Bureau Annual Convention in
Billings, Professor Brester explained that claims that European yields
without GM crops match those in the U.S., the debate is not taking into
account enough years of data.

"When I heard this debate, I went back to the early 1960s and started
tracking productivity. Until 1996, the United State and the European Union
shared technologies. Then when GMOs were banned, I've noticed in my data a
flattening of yields in corn and soybeans in the EU, yet the U.S. yields
using GMOs continue to increase."

The professor also said that banning GM crops increases world hunger. "The
banning of this technology has been done with no documented human health
problems despite extensive testing," Brester said. He explained that
agriculture has advanced because of technology, and that farm productivity
has increased by 250 percent since the 1940s owing to continued adopted
technologies.

[mfbf.org]
ng-GMOS-and-EU-grain-productivity