The Global Economic Impacts of Roundup Ready Soybeans

Abstract

In 1996, Monsanto released Roundup Ready (RR) soybeans and kicked off dras- AQ1 tic and swift changes in soybean production around the world. RR soybeans have been genetically engineered to include a gene from the soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens, which makes them tolerant to the broad-spectrum herbicide RoundupTM (glyphosate). By using RR soybeans, weeds can be controlled through over the top application of glyphosate. Use of the RR soybean technology typically results in the replacement of multiple applications with selective post emergence herbicides by one or two over the top applications with glyphosate. Adoption of RR soybeans in key producing countries has been fast. Within ten years from their introduction, RR soybeans were used on almost 60% of the world soybean acreage (see Table 19.1). In this chapter, we examine the economic impacts that have followed this broad adoption of RR soybeans around the world. We first measure the changes in land use, production volumes and prices of soybeans and other oilseeds that resulted from the use of RR soybeans over the 1996–2006 period. We then measure the resulting changes in welfare and their distribution among adopters and non-adopters, producers of other oilseeds, as well as consumers.