Italian companies’ attitude towards GM crops

Abstract

Purpose

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are a consolidated reality. While consumers are opposed to the introduction of GMOs in Italy, little or nothing is known about the companies’ attitude. For this reason, this work is focused on companies. This research aims to understand the problems, the possible solutions and the opinions of farms on the role of GMOs to arrive at a judgement based on the representation of various positions.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper was made possible thanks to a direct survey on the field. In particular, the work provides a significant number of interviews directed to livestock farms; a logical sequence of questions that allow you to understand the attitude and the willingness of companies and if there is a future propensity to transgenic cultivation; and the creation of an ad hoc analysis on the behaviour of farmers.

Findings

Thematic analysis revealed that GMOs are the only valid research to the advancement of agriculture, able to guarantee our companies productivity improvements. This technique could solve many problems related to agriculture, such as the possibility of future saving on crops.

Originality/value

There is a lot of research on GMOs. The research behind this paper is different, because it is a research carried out throughout all the country, from the point of view of businesses.

Citation

Sarno, V. and Malgeri Manzo, R. (2016), "Italian companies’ attitude towards GM crops", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 46 No. 5, pp. 685-694. https://doi.org/10.1108/NFS-11-2015-0142