Management concepts and practices

Agricultural Biotechnology: Can it combat the food

crisis in Developing Countries?

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my gratitude to my teacher Ms. Shefali who gave me the
golden opportunity to do this project on the topic Agricultural Biotechnology:
Can it combat the food crisis in Developing Countries?, which also helped me
in doing a lot of Research and I came to know about so many new things. I am
really thankful to her. Secondly I would also like to thank my friends who
helped me a lot in finishing this project within the limited time.
- Livanshu Garg

SUBMITTED TO:

SUBMITTED BY:

MS. SHEFALI

LIVANSHU
GARG
152/14
SECTION C
2

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY?

HOW IS AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY USED?

HOW LONG HAS BIOTECHNOLOGY BEEN USED IN AGRICULTURE AND FOOD

PRODUCTION?

WILL AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY HAVE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL

IMPACTS?

GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS (GM CROPS)

INTRODUCTION

COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION OF GM CROPS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

GLOBAL IMPACT OF GM CROPS

10

CHALLENGES AND THE WAY FORWARD

13

POSITION IN INDIA

17

INSTITUTIONS AND SYSTEMS

17

CLIMATE CHANGE AND AGRICULTURE

17

BIOFUELS VS FOOD SECURITY

18

GM CROPS AND FOOD SECURITY

19

AGRO BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION AND SEED BANKS

19

GENE CAMPAIGNS EFFORTS

20

CONCLUSION

21

BIBLIOGRAPHY

23

INTRODUCTION
For about 10,000 years, farmers have been improving wild plants and animals
through the selection and breeding of desirable characteristics. This breeding
has resulted in the domesticated plants and animals that are commonly used in
crop and livestock agriculture. In the twentieth century, breeding became more
sophisticated, as the traits that breeders select for include increased yield,
disease and pest resistance, drought resistance and enhanced flavour. Traits are
passed from one generation to the next through genes, which are made of DNA.
All living thingsincluding the fruits, vegetables and meat that we eat
contain genes that tell cells how to function. Recently, scientists have learned
enough to begin to identify and work with the genes (DNA) that are responsible
for traits.1
World hunger and food insecurity is a recurring problem in most parts of the
developing world. Among the many potential biotechnologies that are available,
and the different ways in which they can be applied, genetic modification (GM)
of crops demands particular attention. Genetically modified crops possessing
genes from different species, could possibly relieve global food shortages.
Although initial excitement surrounded the use of GM crops -- that they will
provide bigger and better harvests for farmers -- there are still questions about
the benefits of such crops. In addition, the general public may not welcome the
creation of "super plants" as a viable option in solving global hunger.2

WHAT IS AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY?

Agricultural biotechnology is a collection of scientific techniques used to
improve plants, animals and microorganisms. Based on an understanding of
DNA, scientists have developed solutions to increase agricultural productivity.
Starting from the ability to identify genes that may confer advantages on certain
crops, and the ability to work with such characteristics very precisely,
biotechnology enhances breeders ability to make improvements in crops and

1 http://absp2.cornell.edu/resources/briefs/documents/warp_briefs_eng_scr.pdf

2 http://unchronicle.un.org/article/biotechnology-solution-hunger
4

livestock. Biotechnology enables improvements that are not possible with

traditional crossing of related species alone.3
Agricultural biotechnology, also known as agritech, is an area of agricultural
science involving the use of scientific tools and techniques, including genetic
engineering, molecular markers, molecular diagnostics, vaccines, and tissue
culture, to modify living organisms: plants, animals, and microorganisms. 4

HOW IS AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY USED? 5

Genetic engineering: Scientists have learned how to move genes from one
organism to another. This has been called genetic modification (GM), genetic
engineering (GE) or genetic improvement (GI). Regardless of the name, the
process allows the transfer of useful characteristics (such as resistance to a
disease) into a plant, animal or microorganism by inserting genes (DNA)
from another organism. Virtually all crops improved with transferred DNA
(often called GM crops or GMOs) to date have been developed to aid farmers
to increase productivity by reducing crop damage from weeds, diseases or
insects.
Molecular markers: Traditional breeding involves selection of individual
plants or animals based on visible or measurable traits. By examining the
DNA of an organism, scientists can use molecular markers to select plants or
animals that possess a desirable gene, even in the absence of a visible trait.
Thus, breeding is more precise and efficient. For example, the International
Institute of Tropical Agriculture has used molecular markers to obtain cowpea
resistant to bruchid (a beetle), disease-resistant white yam and cassava
resistant to Cassava Mosaic Disease, among others. Another use of molecular
markers is to identify undesirable genes that can be eliminated in future
generations.
Molecular diagnostics: Molecular diagnostics are methods to detect genes or
gene products that are very precise and specific. Molecular diagnostics are
used in agriculture to more accurately diagnose crop/livestock diseases.
3 http://absp2.cornell.edu/resources/briefs/documents/warp_briefs_eng_scr.pdf

4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural_biotechnology

5 http://absp2.cornell.edu/resources/briefs/documents/warp_briefs_eng_scr.pdf
5

 Vaccines: Biotechnology-derived vaccines are used in livestock and humans.

They may be cheaper, better and/or safer than traditional vaccines. They are
also stable at room temperature, and do not need refrigerated storage; this is
an important advantage for smallholders in tropical countries. Some are new
vaccines, which offer protection for the first time against some infectious
illnesses. For example, in the Philippines, biotechnology has been used to
develop an improved vaccine to protect cattle and water buffalo against
hemorrhagic septicaemia, a leading cause of death for both species.
Tissue culture: Tissue culture is the regeneration of plants in the laboratory
from disease-free plant parts. This technique allows for the reproduction of
disease-free planting material for crops. Examples of crops produced using
tissue culture include citrus, pineapples, avocados, mangoes, bananas, coffee
and papaya.

HOW LONG HAS BIOTECHNOLOGY BEEN USED IN

AGRICULTURE AND FOOD PRODUCTION?
The first food product of biotechnology (an enzyme used in cheese production
and a yeast used for baking) appeared on the market in 1990. Since 1995,
farmers have been growing GE crops. In 2003, 7 million farmers in 18
countriesmore than 85 percent of them resource-poor farmers in the
developing worldwere planting biotech crops. Almost one third of the global
biotech crop area was grown in developing countries. 6

WILL
AGRICULTURAL
BIOTECHNOLOGY
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL IMPACTS?

HAVE

A safe and sufficient food supply, grown in an environmentally responsible

fashion, is essential for humanity. Like any technology, agricultural
biotechnology will have economic and social impacts. Since their introduction,
crops improved using biotechnology have been used safely, with benefits such
as the reduction of pesticide use. Agricultural biotechnology is only one factor
among many influencing the health and welfare of farmers and other citizens in

6 ibid.
6

the developing world. As biotechnology continues to evolve, factual and open

public discourse is vital to define the role it should play in society. 7

7 ibid.
7

Genetically modified crops (GM crops)

INTRODUCTION

GM crops otherwise known as biotech or transgenic crops have captured the

minds of various people and organisations around the globe, particularly in
terms of its potential benefits and risks associated with it. Over the past decade,
GM crop productions have gradually increased and captured strategic places
both in developed and developing countries. At the same time intense public
debate continues as to whether GM products are safe due to potential long-term
effects on human health and environments. But no environmental or human
health problems resulting from GM crops have been documented so far.
This brings about Green Revolution that benefited mostly Asian and Latin
America country in 1960s through the 1980s while African countries were by
passed, perhaps the biggest failure of Green Revolution. The Green Revolution
was successful to some extent in Asia due to high-yielding varieties of rice and
wheat, chemical inputs, irrigation and improved crop systems, saving almost 1
billion people from hunger. It was noticeable in terms of food security, poverty
reduction and increased per capital income. After many years of continuous use
of agro-chemicals and irrigation under Green Revolution regime, serious
environmental changes of soils started, water bodies quality was affected, and
agricultural yields declined. It was indicated that increased agricultural
production from Green Revolution has reached its limits, thus the need for
newer technologies to increase the food production for rising world population.
The application of GM technology was acclaimed as Doubly Green Revolution
that has a great potential to improve and increase crop yields.8

8 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1687157X11000266/pdfft?
md5=17c3f7166e3bd943195708b25aefd94e&pid=1-s2.0-S1687157X11000266-main.pdf
8

COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION OF GM CROPS IN DEVELOPING

COUNTRIES

The first commercial production of GM crops started officially in 1996. Prior to

1996, only China (GM tobacco) and USA (GM tomato) are widely known to
have planted GM crops for commercial purposes in 1992 and 1994,
respectively. Since the commercial production of GM crops started 1996, steady
growth has mostly taken place in developing countries. Current commercial
productions of GM crops are more in Asia and Latin America countries with
few countries in Africa. There are also few commercial GM crops in North
America but the United States, being the major player has the highest adoption,
and arguably the only country with most advanced biotechnology research and
development (R&D).
The European attitude towards GM crops has led to scanty adoption, while
Japan one of the few developed Asian countries has shown little or no interest.

9 ibid.
9

Apart from developed countries, both Asia and Latin America have relatively
high level of capacity building including functional biosafety regulations for

10

growing commercial GM crops. These literatures provide some relevant

information on status of biotechnology programs in Asia and Latin America,
respectively. Some countries like India and China in Asia, Argentina and

11

Brazil in Latin America have enacted biosafety regulations, while other

countries are working on it. Only few African countries like South Africa,
Egypt and Burkina Faso have functional biosafety regulations and capable of
producing commercial GM crops, while majority are at different stages of
developing national biosafety frameworks.
China and India are the most advanced and dominant GM crop producers in
Asia. Of global total area of 148 million hectares planted in 2010, China (3.5
million hectares) and India (9.4 million hectares) planted a combined total area
of 12.9 million hectares. In Asia, China and India represent 45% (34.3 million
hectares) and 49% (37.3 million hectares) respectively of total area of 76.4
million hectares of GM crops (mostly Bt cotton) planted in 15 years of
commercialisation. Australia is the only Asia-Pacific country that planted 0.7
million hectares of GM crops in 2010. Australia has planted a total area of 2.6
million hectares since commercialisation started in 1996 with focus on Bt
cotton and HT canola. (See Table 1)

GLOBAL IMPACT OF GM CROPS 10

1. Benefits of GM crops
The global benefit of GM crops since commercialisation began in 1996 has
been outstanding, delivering socio-economic, environmental and human health
benefits to both small and large scale farmers in developing and developed
countries, respectively. At the same time, benefits of GM crops have been
criticised. The literatures on the benefit of GM crops are vast, but this section of
the article has discussed some of the relevant papers while mentioning others
data that criticised with mixed situations.

Yield impact
The yield impact of GM crops varies from country to country with
different literature reports and some of the GM crops producing countries
have been reported. For example, Bt cotton, yield increase is reported as
follows; 0% in Australia, 715% in China, 911% in USA, 20% in
Mexico, 3234% in Argentina, 4070% in South Africa and 4387% in
India. The United States, South Africa and Spain represent 58%, 11%
10 ibid.
12

and 4.7%, respectively, for yield increase in Bt maize. In USA, Argentina

and Romania, the yield increase for Bt soybean represent 2% to 2%, 0%
and 31%, respectively.

Farm level impact

Some of detailed assessment carried out for the first 13 years of
commercialisation (19962008) is based on farm level economic effects
and the production effects. Adoption of GM technology for
commercialisation has dramatically improved agricultural production with
a positive impact on farm income, accounting for an increase of US$ 52
billion since 1996. Based on their estimate, increase in farm income benefit
for the GM crops such as Bt soybean, Bt maize, Bt cotton, Bt canola and
others represent 5.7% added to the total value of global production in GM
adopting countries in 2008. Also, in the year 2008, the division of
economic benefits in developing countries relative to developed countries
as obtained by the farmers was estimated.

Profitability impact
GM crops have enhanced increase in yield and profitability. Carpenter
analysed 80 examples of GM crops profitability, 59 showed an increase
with GM crops with a decrease of 14 and 7 showed no difference. In terms
of yields, increase in profitability was higher in developing countries than
developed countries, especially in GM cotton. For example, the United
States and Australia have an average increase in gross margin,
representing US$ 58/ha and US$ 66/ha, respectively, whereas China,
Mexico, India, South Africa and Argentina have an average increase in
gross margin, representing US$ 470/ha, US$ 295/ha, US$ 135/ha, US$
91/ha and US$ 23/ha, respectively.

Environmental impact
The cultivation of GM crops has contributed to reduced pesticide and fuel
use, controlling water erosion, preserving soil structure, lowering tillage
operations and green house gas emission. Reduction in chemical use also
lead to reduced cost that is associated with spraying of pesticide . A study
of environmental impact was examined to assess the amount of pesticide
and herbicide applied on GM crops between 1996 and 2008 using
Environmental Impact Quotient (EIQ) indicator. The result showed that the
adoption of GM traits (e.g., GM cotton) have led to reduction (8.4%) in
pesticide application by 352 million kg of active ingredient with 16.3%
drop of environmental impact resulting from pesticide and herbicide
application on crops.
13

 Human health impact

Human health benefits due to reduction in pesticide use have been
recorded from the adoption of GM technology, particularly among the
farmers without adequate training who are growing Bt cotton in China. In
South Africa, introduction of Bt cotton has led to reduced number of
illnesses that is associated with pesticide applications. Moreover, other
findings have shown that cultivation of GM maize can lead to health
benefits. For examples, GM maize contains low amount of mycotoxins that
can cause human disease such as cancer. And cases like lowering
mycotoxins in Bt maize have also been reported in USA and Europe. These
are cases where low pesticide uses have resulted in reduced level of
toxicity, thereby reducing the number of poisonings among the farmers. In
developing countries, mycotoxins inspection is poorly controlled when
compared to developed countries, the use of Bt maize can contribute to
greater health benefit among less trained farmers.
1

Potential role of GM crops in food security and poverty reduction in

developing countries

GM crops have potential roles towards solving food security problems and
poverty crisis in developing countries, particularly in Africa continent and
South East Asia. Global food demand is projected to at least double, and likely
to triple, by the year 2050 when the world population growth is expected to
reach 10 billion people with majority living in developing countries. According
to recent statistics estimate by FAO, 925 million people (13%) of 6.3 billion
estimated world population are hungry and undernourished notably in Asia
pacific 9% (578 million) and Africa 4% (239 million). This evidence suggests
that there is still overwhelming shortage of food production to feed world poor
people or perhaps people cannot afford the food prices due to high poverty
level.
Food security and poverty reduction can be achieved through GM technology
by creating job opportunities, increasing crop productivity, improving
nutritional contents, lowering production costs and food prices. Improving the
livelihood and incomes of people in rural and urban areas is also fundamental to
food security, since peoples access to food depend on income. Apart from
population growth that may likely affect food security in years to come,
problems resulting from abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, water logging,
toxic levels or deficiencies of nutrients and biotic stresses due to weeds, insects
14

and diseases and climate change will take a heavy toll of the 5 billion tons of
food currently produced annually, hence a serious need to tackle these
problems.
GM crops production has increased the income for more than 90% (13 million)
small scale and resource-poor farmers from developing countries which have
contributed to poverty alleviation in 2008.
The production of GM cotton in China, India and South Africa and GM maize
in Philippines and South Africa have already improved livelihood of 12
million resource-poor farmers and contributed significantly to their incomes. In
future, production of GM rice has potentials to feed and increase the income of
250 million people in Asia where some of poorest people live in the world with
income less than US$ 1 a day.

15

CHALLENGES AND THE WAY FORWARD11

1. Constraints in adopting GM crops

11 ibid.
16

Despite the benefits of GM crops over the past decade since the
Table 2

commercialisation started, there are still many challenges or constraints

associated with the adoption of GM technology across the globe, particularly in
developing countries that are expected to benefit most from this technology.
(See Table 2)
Most developing countries are yet to grow GM crops on commercial scales due
to a number of factors:
One of the most prominent factors is biosafety regulations as most countries
have not fully satisfied the requirements for the release of GMO
17

products, and due to go-slow approach toward GM technology by

individual country government, thus delaying the commercialisation of GM
crops. There is lack of proper coordination and harmonisation for developing
biosafety regulation in developing countries and this can be seen as slowing
down the growth in international adoption of GM crop innovations.
The adoption of GM crops between global north and global south is not
evenly distributed geographically, with most adoption coming from global
south. As a result, data resulting from global production of commercial GM
crops are sometimes difficult to analyse. Only few developed countries such
as US and Canada are the dominant producers of GM crops in North
America with outstanding capacity building to support agricultural
development.
Notably, large percentage of the GM crops was cultivated in top five lead
developing countries such as Argentina, India, China, Brazil and South
Africa. Several factors underpin high adoption rate among those five
developing countries. And some have to do with the fact that the institution
building to promote biotechnology activities are effective and reliable to a
large extent in the five countries. In addition to that, a lot of financial
investment has been made.
While few countries with considerable scientific infrastructure and clear
programmes on cutting-edge biotechnology have translated R&D into
significant adoption of GM crops and commercialised some of their products,
many countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa are far from adopting GM
crops that have potential to improve livelihood and increase income of
resource-poor farmers. And this is simply because they lag behind in terms of
capacity to produce, regulate and apply biotechnology in crop productions
The absence of a well established and enabling policy that encourage
intellectual property rights (IPR) system is also depriving most developing
countries of a proper functioning commercial market for improved seed
varieties. It may be one of the reasons why biotech industries are not
investing in developing countries due to non-existing IPR and poorly
structured market system.
2. Policy Implications for the development and adoption of GM crops

18

The constraints discussed above are formidable but not invincible. From the
collection of summarised activities and information on the commercialisation of
GM crops since 1996, it possible to synthesise and mention vital policy
implications that will help towards the development of modern biotechnology
in developing countries as described below:
Provision of functional and appropriate international regulatory capacity
If adoption of GM technology will mostly and truly benefit developing
countries as being said frequently, something therefore must be done about
international regulatory capacity. The lack of an international regulatory
capacity is affecting the development and adoption of GM technology in
developing countries. Moreover, resource-poor farmers are still deprived of
this technology and prevented from achieving innovative agricultural success.
One of the points to reckon with is the limited adoption of GM crops by
small land holders in most of developing countries. A serious but convincing
effort to help developing countries should be rendered to establish effective
regulatory frame work capacity. In fact, a combined effort from credible
international bodies or agencies is needed as this is beyond one country
approach.
Educational policies for the interpretation of biosafety regulation
Lack of educational policies for interpreting biosafety regulation for
resource-poor farmers is affecting the adoption of GM technology in
developing countries. Most small-scale farmers in developing countries have
low level of education, and their inability to read or understand the official
language in which biosafety law is written may lead to wrong application of
GMO products.
Transfer of technological innovation
Identifying more efficient ways and means of transferring technological
innovation to developing nations by driving reliable bio economy will create
wealth and economic benefits for the users. The developed countries clearly
have important roles to play when transferring technological innovations (e.g.
GM technology) by working in collaboration with international initiatives
such as the International Service for Acquisition of Agri biotech Applications
(ISAAA), African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and relevant
government initiatives in developing countries.

19

 Investment in technological innovation and agricultural research

Agricultural investment plans must be coherent and part of overall national
plans that are clearly spelt out in the budget for economic development, food
security and poverty reduction in any country. Many people are poor and
hungry today in developing countries due to long-term under-investment in
agriculture particularly in scientific research and technological innovation
development which is synonymous to African countries. The authors argue
that funding agriculture research will yield profitable returns, and will serve
as a powerful weapon in fighting against poverty and hunger. One key
strategic approach to tackle this constraint in the area of scientific research
and technological innovation is to invest in biotechnology R&D in
developing countries.
Increase access to information resources
Adequate and free access to information resources on technology that still
requires a lot to learn or know about it should not be confined to a small
group. Many developing countries, particularly in public research institutions
do not have access to vital information that could improve their
understanding on GM technology. Some access problems relate to data
collection, management and storage such as availability of systems for
reliable sample and data tracking, or access to modern analytical
methodologies and tools for accurate decision-making, amongst others. Even
though, there is still much sharing for research purpose, but access to biotech
research is restricted by one or more material-transfer agreements, which
further re- strict distribution and commercialisation.

20

POSITION IN INDIA
Gene Campaign is of the view that the current food crisis is beatable and that
with some intelligent planning, India cannot only remain self sufficient in food
but can also become a food surplus country.

INSTITUTIONS AND SYSTEMS

It is cause for worry that at this time of crisis, the country is saddled with a
system of agriculture research and implementation that is ineffective and unable
to rise to the challenge posed by the food crisis.
The first step to tackle the food crisis will be to radically overhaul institutions
like the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), Agriculture
Universities and the food distribution systems. It is disappointing that the
agriculture scientific community has so far made no statement nor revealed any
plans on how it proposes to tackle the impact of climate change on agriculture.
Fresh blood needs to be inducted to make agriculture bountiful in todays
challenging situation. A radical new approach and fresh plans are needed which
include the perspectives and experience of a range of stakeholders who are
seldom consulted in agriculture planning. These should include experts in
diverse fields like water conservation, ecology, pest control, genetics and plant
breeding working in formal institutions and Civil Society Organisations
(CSOs).

CLIMATE CHANGE AND AGRICULTURE

The most serious long-term challenge facing Indian agriculture is global
warming and Climate Change. According to all estimates, agriculture in South
Asia will be the worst affected by global warming.
Climate change could cause irreversible damage to land and water
ecosystems and lead to loss of production potential.
Heavy and variable precipitation, heat waves, cyclones, droughts, and floods
likely to be more frequent and intense, resulting in greater economic shocks.
Policymakers must cope with an increased risk of frequent shocks to their
economies, which will affect the most vulnerable populations.

21

 Remedial and adaptive steps need to be put in place immediately to enable

Indian agriculture to cope with anticipated changes.
What we should do
Compile meteorological data for last 100 years to detect trends in temperature
variation and rainfall amount and pattern
Combine local and global assessment to make projections for one crop, two
crop, two-three crop zones
Calculate potential land loss to aridity / desertification /sea incursion;
Develop zone wise strategies to make up for loss in agriculture production

BIOFUELS VS FOOD SECURITY

India has begun biofuel programs and its draft policy proposes to start with a
blending proportion of 5 per cent ( 5% biofuel with 95% petroleum) by 2012,
10 per cent by 2017 and over 10 per cent after 2017. This must stop. India must
get off the US led bandwagon of biofuel and its politics and devote itself to
producing as much food as possible.
The Jatropha species being used in India, Jatropha curcas, is low yielding,
giving one ton of seeds per hectare under optimal conditions. With a seed price
of Rs 5 per kg, the farmer would make only Rs. 5,000 per hectare per year. This
makes it a loss making venture. Research that shows that biofuels give out less
energy when burnt than was used in their manufacture. 6,597 kilocalories of
nonrenewable energy are required to produce a litre of ethanol from corn, which
contains only 5,130 kilocalories of energy. This is a 22 percent deficit.
Second, if the wasteland is capable of supporting Jatropha cultivation, should
it not be used for the cultivation of food crops like cereal, legumes and oilseeds,
or if not that, then fodder grasses? India and all of South Asia have large
livestock populations, which serve as additional support for local food security.
The region is deficient in fodder and all kinds of non-arable land should be
diverted to fodder grasses, not crops to produce agro fuels.

22

GM CROPS AND FOOD SECURITY

India can emerge as a food sufficient and food surplus country if it acts right.
The high global prices of food are going to stay because they are directly
connected to the price of oil, which does not appear to be coming down any
time soon. Western agriculture is expensive because it is heavily dependent on
petroleum fuels. It is entirely mechanised and chemical intensive. Most
fertilisers and feedstock are based on naphtha, a petroleum product.
In India agriculture is labor intensive, not mechanised, hence less dependent on
petroleum. Chemical fertiliser use is supplemented with bio organic nutrients.
Groups like Gene Campaign are spreading the use of composts like vermin
compost, Blue Green algae and other bio fertilisers that maintain soil health
along with adding nutrients.

AGRO BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION AND SEED BANKS

It has been understood for some time now that genetic diversity is the key to
maintaining sustainability in food production. This truth is underlined ten times
over as we face global warming and climate change when micro and macro
climate will fluctuate and crop production zones will change. The only way to
breed new crop varieties for the changed situation is to go back to the genetic
diversity of crops and look for genes suited to the new situation. Genes for
instance, for drought tolerance in cold temperatures or drought tolerance in hot
areas? Resistance against fungal diseases? Or sucking pests or insects, which
were not know earlier? Coping with all this will need access to a variety of
genes.
To tackle the food crisis, genetic diversity must be maintained in crop varieties,
livestock, forest species, aquaculture, and most of all, in the soil. Soil
biodiversity is essential for sustained good yields.
India is rich in crop genetic diversity because our farmers maintain several
hundred species of the same crop. Despite the Green Revolution, significant
diversity is still available. This must be conserved. Other than the National
Gene Bank, the govt is not doing much in this regard but civil society should
take this up on a war footing to create a huge pool of genetic wealth that can be
tapped to breed new varieties.

23

GENE CAMPAIGNS EFFORTS

Realising the crucial importance of genetic diversity to long term food security,
Gene Campaign has been setting up Seed-Gene Banks of traditional crop
varieties in the villages of Jharkhand and Uttaranchal since the past few years.
Jharkhand already has 10 such banks, with a total collection of over 2000 crop
collections, chiefly rice. More farmer level banks are being set up every year.
The way ahead for India is to invest heavily in setting up field level Gene-Seed
Banks to:
Conserve all available genetic diversity of crop plants, specially food staples
like rice. India is the birthplace of rice and several other important food crops,
vegetables and legumes.
Maintain a seed source of locally adapted seeds accessible to farmers.
Characterise the properties of all the varieties so that plant breeders can use
these properties/genetic traits to breed new crop varieties for the changed
situation, like drought and salinity tolerance and tolerance to high
temperature, resistance to diverse pets and high yield.12

12 https://www.cbd.int/doc/external/mop-04/gc-en.pdf
24

CONCLUSION
In summary, steady growth of GM crops in the past 15 years have shown that
GM technology has a great potential towards contributing to sustainable
agriculture, particularly in developing countries. Moreover, the global benefit of
GM crops have made significant difference in terms of cost savings, increases
in yield and profitability, improving the quality of life and reducing the use of
pesticide and herbicide. This in turn leads to a significant saving on fossil fuels
and lowering carbon dioxide emissions, thereby mitigating climate change.
The world needs fast and reliable solutions to fast growing population and the
problems of hunger, malnutrition, ravaging diseases, poverty and global
warming crisis. One of ideal technological innovations such as GM technology
can be part of solutions to these problems. It is imperative to understand that
GM technology cannot establish its ground if continuously faced with the
baggage of constraints. Moreover, it is not surprising to gather from a variety of
literatures that most developing countries lack capacity building and still
struggling with the establishment of biosafety system that can facilitate GM
field trials and commercial release of GM products. Some of the challenges
associated with the development of modern biotechnology still boil down to the
fact that individual country government and international organisations have not
clearly identified a coherent strategy and enabling policy instrument to deal
with the problems. While some progress have been made on GM technology in
terms of research and development, capacity building, and biosafety regulation
in developed countries and a few developing countries, concerted effort is still
needed to make it an accessible technology for every country.
Finally, the world of agricultural biotechnology should be appreciated while
assessing its potentials and global impact in the last 15 years. More attention
should be paid to the improvement of GM technology to harness its maximum
potentials as well as taking case-by-case cautious regulatory approach, while
considering future potential risks. All relevant institutions that include
individual country government, private and public sector and international
agencies should work together to ensure that everyone benefits from GM
technology, particularly in developing countries. Therefore, the developing
world if not entire world need GM technology and must not be ignored,
marginalised or sidelined, because it has the weapons to fight poverty, reduce

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malnutrition and hunger, improve food security, create friendly environments,

increase the income of poor farmers and benefit society as a whole. 13
According to the UN Chronicle, The world's food supply is abundant, not
scarce. The world's production of grain and other foods is sufficient to provide
at least 4.3 pounds of food per person, per day. The real reason for hunger in the
world is poverty, which often strikes women--the nutritional gatekeepers in
many familiesthe hardest.
Economists argue that resolving hunger requires political solutions and not just
agro-technical solutions. According to them, instead of looking at
biotechnology as a yet unproven and non-existent breakthrough, decision
makers should look at the full body of research that shows that solutions to
eliminate hunger are not technological in nature, but rooted in basic socioeconomic realities. This is not to say that technology, including biotechnology,
does not play a role in reducing, say, malnutrition, but there is no technology
that can override the immediate political and social forces that keep people poor
and hungry.
The global biotechnology industry has funnelled a vast majority of its
investment into a limited range of products that have large, secured markets in
the First Worldproducts which are of little relevance to the needs of the
world's hungry. Biotechnology has applications that can significantly solve the
problem of world hunger.
Green is the colour of agricultural biotechnology, of fertility, self-respect and
well-being. In my opinion, policymakers should pragmatically consider modern
biotech discoveries and assets as an important tool for solving the problem of
global hunger.14

13 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1687157X11000266/pdfft?
md5=17c3f7166e3bd943195708b25aefd94e&pid=1-s2.0-S1687157X11000266-main.pdf

14 http://unchronicle.un.org/article/biotechnology-solution-hunger
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. www.cbd.int
2. www.sciencedirect.com
3. www.absp2.cornell.edu
4. www.unchronicle.un.org
5. www.wikipedia.com

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