Plant biotechnology is helping to create a vibrant knowledge-based economy throughout the United States, according to a study by a University of Minnesota professor. “The vast stock of plant breeding and genomic research and development knowledge that led to the biotech revolution will generate billions of dollars in additional economic benefits for farmers and others in the agrifood value chain and within public and private research communities,” said C. Ford Runge, director of the Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy and Distinguished McKnight University Professor of Applied Economics and Law. The study, “The Economic Status and Performance of Plant Biotechnology in 2003: Adoption, Research and Development in the United States,” provides a detailed view of biotechnology’s value at the farm level and beyond the farm gate, where the crops — and the research and development that creates them — generate additional jobs, income and investment in the agrifood chain and public and private research community. The study was supported by the Council for Biotechnology Information.
