Commercialization of genetically modified plants: progress towards the marketplace

Abstract

Agricultural productivity increases over the last 40 years were driven by significant advances in several areas: plant breeding, farm mechanization, the use of crop chemicals, irrigation systems and modern farm management practices. Adding agricultural biotechnology to this set of tools promises unprecedented improvements not just in productivity but also food quality, even the use of plants as production facilities for chemicals and a reduction of our dependence on petroleum imports.