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Adoption And Coexistence Of Ge, Conventional Non-Ge, And Organic Crops, Aaron Adalja, Catherine Greene, James Hanson, Robert Ebel, Michael Barron

Aaron Adalja

The adoption of genetically engineered (GE) crop varieties by U.S. farmers is widespread for major crops—94 percent of planted acres for soybeans, and 88 percent for corn in 2012 (USDA-NASS 2012). The potential exists for GE crop production to impose costs on organic and conventional non-GE production via unintended presence of GE material along the supply chain through: • Contamination of seed stock • Accidental cross-pollination • Accidental co-mingling during planting, harvesting, handling, and storing of crops (Bullock and Desquilbet 2002). Maintaining the integrity of GE-differentiated product markets relies on segregation protocols such as: • Hybrid selection and seed purity …