What is the difference between intrinsic yield and operational yield, and why does it matter?
Failure to Yield distinguishes between two kinds of crop yield—intrinsic yield and operational yield. Intrinsic yield, which may also be thought of as potential yield, is the amount of food that crops can produce under ideal circumstances. Operational yield is the amount achieved after pests and other environmental stresses reduce the potential yield. Both are important, and GE has had limited success in enhancing operational yield by reducing losses caused by insect pests. But crop breeders must find ways to increase intrinsic yield if they are to boost the maximum production that may be obtained from a crop. Conventional breeding has been successful at increasing intrinsic yields; no GE crop has yet achieved such an increase.
