FALSE.

In fact, biotechnology has helped us re-examine agriculture, looking at ways to improve yield while cutting down on the environmental impact of any farm. Biotech crops’ water-saving and fuel-saving benefits are already well-documented, but these crops also address one of modern agriculture’s most concerning issues – pesticides.

Many pest-sensitive species of plants need some sort of protection in order to produce a profitable crop yield, but consumers are often wary of the amount of pesticides being sprayed on their food. This is where biotechnology steps in, by configuring the genes of a plant to resist the pests themselves – without all the extra spraying. One agricultural economist (Graham Brookes) recently even went so far as to say that after 11 years of widespread use, biotech crops had done more to help protect the environment than any other single technology. In 2006, for example, the use of biotech crops saved 14.8 million kg of carbon emissions through less pesticide use and fewer field passes. That is equivalent to taking 6.6 million cars off the roads for one year. Pest-resistant biotech crops have also reduced global pesticide applications by 630 million pounds.

Just one example lies in the case of the humble eggplant. This is a staple food in India, where much of the farming is done at a local level by cash-strapped farmers – typical for the 90% of resource-poor farmers in the developing world that grow biotech crops. Due to a local pest, eggplants often come to market spotty and half-eaten… with a precious few farmers using the massive amount of pesticides needed to protect the eggplant fruit. In a cooperative effort with Monsanto, India is testing a whole new crop that would require 30% less pesticides – cutting down on the eggplant’s environmental impact and reducing costs for local farmers.