Ethical Issues in Novel Plant Technologies

Abstract

Novel plant technologies present increased opportunities for rational plant management, promising more sustainable and efficient agricultural practices. However, questions about their desirability also arise. Many novel plant technologies emanate from a mechanistic, reductionist perspective on living organisms, whereas from a holistic perspective, other solutions to sustainable food production may be more desirable. These diverging perspectives lead to debates on how to assess the safety of novel plant technologies, achieve global economic justice against the backdrop of the increased mechanisation of plant breeding, and how to achieve sustainable agriculture. This latter debate evolves in the context of the clash between agroecological practices and rational, digitalized agriculture. These debates and the most prominent arguments will be discussed in this chapter. As such the chapter provides an agenda of issues that need to be addressed to arrive at a societally robust evaluation of novel plant technologies.