Puerto Rico leads in use of transgenic crops, but benefits little
- The San Juan Daily Star
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
By THE STAR STAFF
More than one-third of the world’s corn supply originates in America’s Corn Belt, a vast agricultural region stretching from Nebraska to Ohio. Yet the seeds that fuel this production are largely developed and tested in Puerto Rico -- a place that has seen little benefit from this activity, according to a report in a mainland publication.
According to Investigate Midwest, major seed companies and researchers use Puerto Rican farmland to create high-yield, pest-resistant and herbicide-tolerant varieties. The Puerto Rico Agricultural Biotechnology Industry Association (PRABIA) estimates that 85% of seeds in the global supply chain pass through the island at some stage. Critics argue that the local government prioritizes incentives for ag-tech corporations over support for local farmers.
Puerto Rico now leads all U.S. states and territories in transgenic crop permits issued over the past five years, Invest Puerto Rico reports. Yet many residents believe the relationship is exploitative: companies receive generous tax breaks and regulatory concessions while offering minimal economic return. “They don’t produce food, but they are using the resources that we need to produce food,” said Magha García, an organic farmer and member of the Boricuá Ecological Agriculture Organization, which advocates for sustainable, community-based farming, according to the Investigate Midwest report.
Over the past three decades, global agribusiness giants -- including Bayer, Corteva Agriscience, Syngenta, and BASF -- have established thousands of acres of test farms on the island. The firms collectively control more than half of the global seed market. In 2024, corn contributed $123 billion to the U.S. economy, according to the National Corn Growers Association. Puerto Rico’s share, however, was modest: PRABIA reported 2,900 jobs and $284 million in economic activity, with just $9.3 million in taxes paid -- tiny compared to Bayer’s $22 billion in crop science sales that same year, the report notes.
Local agriculture has been in decline since the 1940s, when Operation Bootstrap shifted Puerto Rico from farming to industry. Today, despite its favorable climate, the island imports 85% of its food. Retired U.S. Department of Agriculture agronomist Yaminette Rodríguez calls the arrangement one-sided: “They don’t sell the seeds over here. We are just a place where they can produce seeds all year.”
Government policy has reinforced this imbalance, relying on tax exemptions, credits and wage subsidies to attract corporations -- including a 90% income tax break. Yet García argues that this corporate presence has not improved life for Puerto Ricans: “Puerto Ricans, we have struggles everywhere,” she told Investigate Midwest. “We are basically surviving.”
Currently, six foreign corn companies lease 5,225 acres along Puerto Rico’s southern coast, according to a 2024 study by Estudios Técnicos. Illinois, the second-largest corn-producing state, plays a key role in this system. Its official seed certification agency, the Illinois Crop Improvement Association (ICIA), operates a 200-acre winter nursery in Juana Díaz -- the island’s only nonprofit seed research station. The facility enables year-round breeding and growout services for plant breeders who would otherwise be limited to a single growing season.
“We work with a lot of people from the Midwest,” said station manager Lizandro Pérez, who meets weekly via Zoom with colleagues in Champaign, Illinois. ICIA CEO Doug Miller noted that their clients range from university researchers to major seed companies.
“We just did a buckwheat increase for someone -- they sent us 14 ounces of seed, and we generated 14 pounds to send back,” Miller said in the report.
Seed companies first came to Puerto Rico for genetically modified crop trials. By introducing genes from bacteria that produce insect-killing toxins, they reduced pest damage and later developed herbicide-tolerant varieties. Monsanto’s first genetically modified organism, or GMO, permits in Puerto Rico date to 1989, leading to the creation of glyphosate-tolerant soybeans in 1993.
University of Illinois specialist Talon Becker notes that Puerto Rico’s climate accelerates research: “If you can do three generations in a tropical place, you can get a whole lot more seed per year than you can in Illinois.”
Farmers and activists continue to call for policies that strengthen local agriculture and sustainability. As Becker puts it: “Agriculture is 12,000 years old and constantly evolving. But if you want farmers to adopt practices that are better for the environment, there has to be an incentive that matches -- or exceeds -- the cost.”