Plant Breeding Safety
Content from the American Seed Trade Association.
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration regulates all food, regardless of how it’s produced.
New plant varieties are tested on multiple sites over many years before being introduced into agricultural practice. Test trials range from a few locations in a year to several hundred locations.
Commercial agriculture seeds are regulated under the Federal Seed Act and state seed laws.
GMOs go through an additional and extensive regulatory review process involving the USDA, EPA and FDA.
Supporting Farmers—and Consumers
Plant scientists rigorously test new varieties for a broad range of characteristics and quality attributes throughout the product development process (which can take 8-10 years or more).
To benefit consumers, breeders consider taste, color, texture and nutritional characteristics. Therefore, when breeding crops like watermelon, breeders look for quality features desired by consumers such as fruits without seeds.
For farmers, plant scientists focus on improving a crop’s yield, pest resistance and climate resilience. For example, when breeding corn, plant scientists look for certain agronomic traits (e.g., drought tolerance) in their selection criteria. This also means ensuring that crops perform across a wide variety of different fields or growing environments. These specific varieties are identified by conducting extensive product testing in fields and greenhouses across multiple, varying geographical locations.
