Argentina’s industrial farming model has come in for increasing criticism in recent years. Specifically, experts say relentlessly expanding cultivation of transgenic crops has prompted ever-heavier use of toxic agrochemicals and soil-exhausting monoculture. Yet Argentina remains a global leader in transgenic agriculture—particularly in its soybean-farming sector, whose production ranks third in the world behind that of the United States and Brazil. Since 1996, when the first type of gene-altered seed was approved for commercial use in the country, Argentina has authorized cultivation of over 50 transgenic crops ranging from corn to cotton. Now the government is weighing yet another such authorization—a particularly closely watched one, since a decision in favor will make Argentina the world’s first country to allow commercial cultivation of genetically modified wheat. Transgenic crops have come to dominate Argentina’s agricultural landscape since the country in 1996 began the trend by allowing commercial... [Log in to read more]