Much of the promotion of genetic enginnering has centred on future benefits which have not yet been substantiated. Instability in GE crop lines has already led to crop failures which, unsurprisingly, have not been well reported by the industry.

In 1997, crop failure affected 30,000 acres of GE herbicide-resistant cotton in Mississippi. Some growers faced losses of 1/2 to 1 million dollars each (1). Monsanto, producer of the Roundup Ready cotton, reportedly paid out millions of dollars in out of court settlements. In 1998, the Mississippi Seed Arbitration Council ruled that Monsanto's cotton failed to perform as advertised and recommended payments of nearly $2 million to three cotton farmers who suffered severe losses (2).
In 1994, Calgene (now a subsidiary of Monsanto) introduced the FlavrSavrTM tomato, the first genetically engineered whole food approved for commercial sale. It was engineered to ripen linger on the vine and still be hard enough to to withstand the processes of picking, packing, and transport. By 1997 it had been withdrawn from the market. Contrary to Calgene's expectations, the tomatoes were often so soft and bruised that they could not be sold as fresh produce and most of the FlavrSavrTM varieties did not have acceptable yields or disease resistance in tomato-growing regions (3).
Monsanto's Bt cotton was supposed to be resistant to the bollworm. Instead, up to half of approximately two million acres of Bt cotton planted in the southern United States suffered a heavy infestation and growers were advised to salvage the crop with emergency spraying. In spite of claims that the Bt cotton would be 90 to 95% effective, some cotton consultants repotred that the product was only 60% effective. A legal firm in Texas acting for 17 of the growers claims that Monsanto misrepresented the product (4).

Many of the early 'gene dreams' of high yields or increased nitrogen fixation may be unrealistic because they involve complex multigene traits. Nitrogen fixing, for example, depends on at least 17 genes in the bacterium and 50 genes in the plant (5). There are hazards associated with the transfer of a single gene, let alone 50. Even if all the genes required for these traits could actually be identified and transferred, the problems of genetic instability could increase as a result (6).

1. The Gene Exchange, and their conversations with Robert McCarty, Director, Mississippi Bureau of Plant Industry, October 7 and 9, 1997; "Monsanto Checks Cotton Problems," Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn., August 7, 1997 (via Bloomberg News online); "Mississippi Investigating Monsanto's Cotton," Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn., August 16, 1997 (via Bloomberg News online); B. Reid, "Problems Crop Up with New Cotton Variety," Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss., August 20, 1997; B. Reid, "Genetic Cotton Backfires," Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss., September 14, 1997; B. Reid, "New Breed of Cotton Raises More Questions," Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss., September 24, 1997.
2. The Gene Exchange, and Mississippi Dept. Ag. and Commerce, Seed Arbitration Council, Recommendation of settlement: Re-Thom Farms, Romar Farms, and Talley Planting Co. v. Delta and Pine Land, Monsanto, and Paymaster Technology, 6/12/98; "Monsanto settles genetic seed complaint," N.Y. Times, p. D2, 3/23/98; 5/5/98, 5/6/98, 6/15/98 conversations with G. Barton, Monsanto; R. McCarty, Miss. Bur. Plant Industry; C. Merkel and Steve Cox, Merkel and Cocke law firm; J. Smith, Delta Res. and Ext. Center.
3. The Gene Exchange - A Public Voice on Biotechnology and Agriculture, "Post-Approval Blues: FlavrSavr Tomato - Squashed" Union of Concerned Scientists, Fall 97
- Calgene, "News Release - Calgene Announces Second Quarter Financial Results," February 6, 1996;
- King, R. "Low-Tech Woe Slows Calgene's Super Tomato," Wall Street Journal, April 11, 1996, p. B1; "The Cutting Edge," Los Angeles Times, August 18, 1997.
4. The Gene Exchange - A Public Voice on Biotechnology and Agriculture (1996) "Bt Cotton Fails to Control Bollworm" Union of Concerned Scientists, Winter 1996 .
- P A N U P S (Pesticide Action Network North America Updates Service) (December 9, 1996) .
- Woodfin M. (12 September 1996) "Bt cotton creating resistance to Bt?" Southern Sustainable Farming .
- Board W. (1996) Bt cottons not immune to injury despite benefits .
- Purdue News (October 1996) "Plant smart to avoid Bt-resistant corn borer, experts advise" October 1996.
- NighR. (13 November 1996) Bt cotton
- Hagedorn C. (January 1997) The Bollworm Controversy - Monsanto's Bt Cotton in 1996, Crop and Soil Environmental News.
5. Johnston A.W.B. (1989) Biological nitrogen fixation. In A Revolution in Biotechnology (J.L. Marx, ed.) Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, New York, pp.103-118.
6. Ho, M-W (1998) Genetic Engineering, Dream or Nightmare? Gateway Books, Bath, UK, p.135.