EMAC researchers publish new book

The Coexistence of Genetically Modified, Organic and Conventional Foods: Government Policies and Market Practices

Kalaitzandonakes, N., Phillips, P.W.B., Wesseler, J., Smyth, S.J. (Eds.)

Publisher: Springer, New York.

Since their commercial introduction in 1996, genetically modified (GM) crops have been adopted by farmers around the world at impressive rates. In 2017, 180 million hectares of GM crops were cultivated by more than 15 million farmers in 30 countries. Global adoption is expected to grow even faster as the research pipeline for new biotech traits and crops has significantly expanded in recent years. The adoption of GM crops has led to increased productivity while reducing pesticide use and the emissions of agricultural greenhouse gases, leading to broadly distributed economic benefits across the global food supply chain.

Despite the rapid uptake of GM crops, the various social and economic benefits, as well as the expanding rate of innovation, the use of GM crops remains controversial in parts of the world. Coexistence between GM, organic, and conventional crops has also emerged as a key policy and practical issue of global scale. Governments and market stakeholders in many countries are grappling with policy alternatives that settle conflicting property rights, minimize negative market externalities and associated liabilities, maximize the economic benefits of innovation, and allow producer and consumer choice. The book intends to assist stakeholders and others in understanding these issues with contributions from the top theoreticians, legal and economic analysts, policy makers, and industry practitioners in the field. As the economics and policy of coexistence start to emerge as a separate subfield in agricultural, environmental, and natural resource economics with an increasing number of scholars working on the topic, the book also provides a comprehensive base in the literature for those entering the area, making it of interest to students, scholars, and policy makers alike.

Find the book here.