Educational
Goal:
Identify and address the
ethical issues of using and producing genetically modified
grain.
Objectives:
You are a farmer in a drought stricken region in your
country, where success depends on rain to provide moisture for the limited
amount of grain crops grown. The
lack of moisture over the past few years has drastically reduced yields for all
farmers in this area, with subsistence farming systems. While you are able to make a meager
profit by taking some of your harvested grain to market, the majority of the
grain goes towards feeding your family and the small amount of livestock you
own.
Your region of the country is composed of farmable
valleys surrounded by mountains on both the east and west. The western coast is bordered by ocean,
which adds to the climate diversity of this region. The 93,952 square kilometers of land is
comprised of many different ecozones ranging from desert to tropical rain
forest. The farmable valleys most
resemble a temperate region where crops can be grown. Temperatures range anywhere from
16-20°C with variable rainfall from around 700 mm to 4000
mm per year.
As a farmer in the most water-deprived part of the
country, you have been struggling to produce an average yielding maize crop for
the past few years. This year,
during what has been predicted to be the worst year of the drought thus far, you
need to plant all of your land to maize in order to provide enough food for your
family and five cattle. There is a
limited supply of seed available due to the severe drought the previous
years. Unlike most years, area
farmers will have to find outside sources for seed instead of using their own
saved seed stock.
With the start of the production season only a few
weeks away, you have been talking with your neighbor, who also farms and is
facing the same situation as you.
He informs you that he has acquired a substantial amount of seed maize,
enough to plant both his land and all of your land. Curious as to how your neighbor acquired
this seed, you ask him where he got it.
He explains that since maize seed is so expensive and hard to come by
this year, he got more of the less expensive maize used for food from the local
store. He says that since he only
has a limited amount of money, he had to trade for the rest of the seed. Though you have no money to buy the
seed, he has offered to give you the seed in exchange for a supply of cheese
your family makes, a share of the meat when you butcher your calf, and labor to
help in the harvesting of his crop at the end of the season.
Excited at the prospect of having a seed supply, your
mind begins to race thinking of all that needs to be accomplished before
planting. The seed needs to be in
the ground as soon as possible in order to make good use of the growing
season. You turn to accept your
neighbor’s offer, but something stops you.
You recall hearing that the maize in the stores was imported from the
United States for food consumption only.
You also remember that the majority of U.S. grown maize is genetically
modified (GM) hybrids. Though there
is a possibility that the maize your neighbor has is not GM, it is more likely
that it is. You also question how a
hybrid from the United States would grow in your country.
Due to the government regulations that state no GM
crops can be grown in your country, you hesitate to accept your neighbor’s
offer. Noticing your hesitation,
your neighbor explains that while he is unsure about the hybrid issue there is a
chance the maize is GM which means a possibility your maize crop will have
resistance to the common maize-damaging borer, a higher tolerance to drought,
and a noticeable increase in the yield at harvest.
Thanking your neighbor for the information and offer,
you ask for a few days to think about this proposition. As you start the long walk home,
thoughts of your family and livelihood come to mind, as well as the penalties
imposed by the government for planting GM grain. At the very least your entire crop would
be destroyed if discovered. Even
after the grain is harvested, if determined to be GM, the government could
destroy it all. There is also a
high possibility of having to pay a large fine for planting the illegal GM
material.
As you start down the lane to your farmstead, you
shield your face against the wind blown soil. You turn your head and watch as your
cattle forage through the picked over stems of dried grass. The drought has affected your cropland,
your livestock, and your family.
What is the best decision?
Commentary on Case Study
Questions: Discussion on possible answers and insight into the
thought behind the case study questions.
Other Case
Studies: Can be used separately from this case
study or for students to examine other, more specific, cases related to maize
production.