"After years of promotions and promises from the biotechnology industry that its genetically engineered crops will produce higher yields the promise has proven to be empty," according to a new report, titled Failure to Yield: Evaluating the Performance of Genetically Engineered Crops, by Doug Gurian-Sherman, a senior scientist in the science-based, non-profit Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) Food and Environment Program.

Failure to Yield, the first report to analyze nearly two decades worth of peer-reviewed research on the yield of genetically engineered (GE) food/feed crops in the United States, revealed that only one major GE food/feed crop-Bt corn-has achieved any significant yield increase.

The three to four percent yield increase achieved by Bt corn over the 13 years that it has been grown commercially is much less than what has been achieved over that time by GE Failure to Yield other methods, including conventional breeding.

"If we are going to make headway in combating hunger due to overpopulation and climate change, we will need to increase crop yields," said Gurian- Sherman, adding "traditional breeding outperforms genetic engineering hands down."

To download the full Failure to Yield report, visit the UCS website at ucsusa.org

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