Gmo Alfalfa Pros and Cons

GMO Alfalfa is an artificially prepared crop. GMO is the abbreviation of Genetically Manufactured Organisms. Recently the production of genetically modified Alfalfa has been granted to produce a crop resistant to the herbicide. Alfalfa crop is also called lucerne, and in binomial nomenclature, it is known as Medicago Sativa. It belongs to the family Fabaceae. It is cultivated in most of the countries around the world. The main use of this crop is silage, hay, and grazing. It is also used as a cover crop and green manure. It is the fourth largest forage crop cultivated in the United States.

GMO Alfalfas Pros

The GMO alfalfa is cultivated all over the world because of its benefits. The main benefits of GMO alfalfa include its resistant property. It is resistant to the weedkiller Roundup. It does not get affected but the chemicals. Chemicals are essential for the development of crops, but some crops get destroyed due to these chemicals. In the case of GMO Alfalfa, there is no effect of chemicals on it. Due to this benefit, overall labor is reduced. No further care is required to protect it against chemicals.

On the other hand, less money is required for its maintenance. Due to less damage, the expenditure is low, and ultimately it is cheap. The food prepared with this crop is also cheap. It requires less attention. It saves time, as well. No extra labor is required to take care of it. The GMO alfalfa seeds have very good growth. It can grow into a large-sized crop and spread to acres. Farmers can grow more crops in a single piece of land. Alfalfa seeds can grow in a large amount. The overall price of GMO Alfalfa is cheap, and no extra expenses are required for its growth and maintenance. Its seeds are also available easily.

GMO Alfalfas Cons

The benefits of GMO Alfalfa should be considered, but its drawbacks are also important to know before cultivating it. The GMO Alfalfa can be cross-pollinated with non-GMO Alfalfa, and this can destroy the organic crop. Already only 1 percent of the total Alfalfa crop remains organic. So there is a higher risk of contaminating the organic crop. Even accidental cross-pollination can contaminate the crop. If the alfalfa crop contains even a single trace of GMO, it is not organic anymore. This contamination can lead to less organic alfalfa crops in the country. 

If a farmer is growing alfalfa crops near to the cultivation of GMO crops, there are high chances of contamination. Organic Alfalfa is used to feed the cattle for their better growth, but if there will be less organic Alfalfa, the cost will rise. The elevated cost then makes it harder to feed cattle with Organic Alfalfa. As a result, organic milk prices and dairy product prices will also rise in the market. The cattle milk and dairy products will be sold at higher rates than usual. Organic meat production is also affected if no more organic alfalfa is available for feeding cattle. It will complicate the organic meat producers.