When it comes to biology applied to agriculture, I prefer eco systemic research to genetics, as a personal taste but I don’t even think those are mutually exclusive.

Maybe an example is appropriate. Monocrop cultures are efficient short term, easy to control ... but also simplistic and brutal. In this system, gmo can help reduce the nefarious intrants (fertilizers, pesticides ...). This sounds like optimization.

Alternative cultural models, multicrops for instance, are saner but implies many technical and economical issues that still have to be dealt with. This is more like an architectural change.