Genetically modified maize impacts in Honduras: production and social issues
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Genetically modified maize impacts in Honduras: production and social issues Diego Maximiliano Macall Stuart J. Smyth
. Carlos Rogelio Trabanino . Alejandro Herna´ndez Soto
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Received: 20 June 2020 / Accepted: 27 October 2020 Ó Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Maize production is one of the most important activities for the Honduran economy, both in terms of area cultivated and food security provided. This article reports the results of a survey undertaken to gauge knowledge, perceptions, opinions, and attitudes of Honduran farmers towards genetically modified (GM) maize. Data were collected from 32 maize producers in 2018–19, of both conventional and GM, in five different departments (regions) of Honduras. Results show that over 75% of interviewed farmers have significant knowledge of basic biotechnology
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11248-020-00221-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorised users. D. M. Macall (&) S. J. Smyth Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Saskatchewan, 51 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A8, Canada e-mail: [email protected] S. J. Smyth e-mail: [email protected] C. R. Trabanino Panamerican Agricultural School (Zamorano University), Zamorano, Honduras e-mail: [email protected] A. H. Soto Instituto Tecnolo´gico de Costa Rica (ITCR), Cartago, Costa Rica e-mail: [email protected]
concepts and GM maize. Overall, producers have a positive opinion about GM maize because yields are higher than conventional maize, and adopting farmers have higher incomes. A significant finding was the reduction in the number of necessary pesticide applications, 84% of interviewees who used GM maize did not apply any pesticides. Farmers indicate the two main reasons for using GM maize are higher incomes (48%) and ease of use of the crop (33%). Overall, GM maize impacts in Honduras could be greater if the federal government took on a more proactive role in knowledge dissemination and facilitation of credit access. Keywords Adoption benefits Chemical use Economic impacts Farm-level evidence Yield increases
Introduction In 2002, Honduras became the first Latin American country to authorize the commercial cultivation of genetically modified (GM) maize. Production of maize is an important activity for the Honduran economy (Hintze 2003); it is also responsible for providing 26% of the calories consumed by urban dwelling Hondurans, and 48% of the calories consumed by those residing in rural areas (Cruz 2013).
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However, Honduran maize productivity is hampered by biotic and abiotic stressors (Diaz-Ambrona et al. 2013; Pitre 1988). Cognizant of the constraints to maize productivity, and of the importance of this crop to domestic food security, the Honduran Secretariat of Agriculture and Livestock (SAL) turned to GM Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) maize technology to bolster domestic
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