Abstract
The economic benefits of insect-resistant genetically modified (GM) crops have been well documented, but the impact of such crops and the consequent reduction in pesticide use on farmers' health remains largely unknown. Through the analysis of the data collected from the physical examination from farmers in China, we show that GM rice significantly reduces pesticide use and the resultant not only visible but also invisible adverse effects on farmers' neurological, hematological, and electrolyte system. Hence, the commercialization of GM rice is expected to improve the health of farmers in developing countries, where pesticide application is necessary to mitigate crop loss.
Highlights
Modified (GM) crops have been well documented in the literature [1,2], the impact of Genetically modified (GM) crops on farmers’ health due to the reduction of pesticide use has not been rigorously analyzed
We focused on invisible health effects because they are more common and may lead to fatal disease [7,8]
Our results showed that 8% of farmers who did not plant GM rice suffered from acute poisoning illnesses related to pesticide use, while none of the farmers reported any poisoning symptoms in their GM rice fields (Table 1)
Summary
Modified (GM) crops have been well documented in the literature [1,2], the impact of GM crops on farmers’ health due to the reduction of pesticide use has not been rigorously analyzed. While previous studies have indicated a reduction in acute (visible) pesticide poisoning in farmers because of GM crops [4,5], the impact of this reduction on farmers’ long- or short-term invisible health has not been quantitatively analyzed. The primary goal of the present study is to estimate the invisible health impact of pesticide reduction through the adoption of GM rice on farmers. Rice is the world’s most important crop and feeds half the planet, but it recorded the highest pesticide use among cereal crops [6]. We focused on invisible health effects because they are more common and may lead to fatal disease [7,8]
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