The present situation of rising food prices has created such a situation world over that various policy makers and governing bodies are mulling over as to what went wrong. Among the various reasons of sudden food crisis, the most prominent one being the sheer neglect of Research and Development in our agricultural sector.
That time when our country India was a begging bowl, Green revolution came as a rescuer and embellished us with various high yielding varieties and high input system resulting in a sudden rise in the production charts. But this process seemed to have reached a plateau. So now to pull this cart further we can consider a highly controversial issue here that is ‘’The Transgenic world’’.
This question is often asked that- Is the transgenic world, a world of myth? Can this be the solution of the above problem?
Transgenic crops or genetically modified crops (GM crops) are the crops whose genetic characteristics have been altered by the insertion of genes or a gene from another organism using the techniques of genetic engineering. This whole idea of matching and mixing the various traits of the organisms has opened up many possibilities like,
Better resistance to stress
More nutritious staple food: for example, Golden Rice has higher levels of vitamin A in its grain
More productive farm animals: for example, genes might be inserted into cattle to raise their milk yield
More food from less land: improved productivity from GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) might mean that farmers in the next century won’t have to bring so much marginal land into cultivation
GMO might reduce the environmental impact of food production and industrial process: as genetically engineered resistance to pests and diseases could greatly reduced the chemical needed for crop protection and its already happening
Rehabilitation of damaged or less fertile land
Bioremediation
Longer shelf life: the genetic modification can make them less likely to spoil in storage or on the way to market which will reduce massive wastage incurred in transport and supply.
Better management of agricultural crops
Improved weed control resulting in less tillage and soil erosion, and water conservation.
Transgenic crops were also patentable enabling protection of developer’s intellectual property rights. In 1996, four transgenic crops developed by Monsanto were approved and were released and grown in USA for the first time. Then in the year 2002, our country India also joined this transgenic race after the apex body, Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), Ministry of Environment and Forest, Govt of India, gave approval for three transgenic Bt. Cotton hybrids for commercial cultivation.
But problem arose when reports came from different quarters regarding the undesirable effects or as Scientists might put it ‘’ unintended effects’’ of transgenic crops. For instance, while discussing pest resistant crops, no new technology in agriculture has been adopted so fast in the history as Bt. Cotton. But the constant use of it led to the outbreak of secondary pests demanding more pesticides to be applied on that front. And in our country many farmers do not even know whether they are using genetically modified seeds or not when they go for using it because they do not know the proper source or information regarding that.
So before exploring further in this world of transgenic, several issues and concerns of farmers need to be addressed and allayed.
Pesticide resistance: in case of Bt spray (a microbial spray) which is applicable under organic rules, here the gene engineers the plant to produce the toxin in each and every cell thus furthering the chances of pests to develop resistance against Bt. If this were to happen, an environmentally safe and benign pesticide will be lost from the farm managers.
Gene flow: the transgenic crops can cross with its wild relatives and can transfer various traits, thereby making them stubborn with the newly acquired weapons in its arsenal like disease resistance / pest resistance making them even more difficult to contain
Effect on beneficial organisms: reports say they can harm the soil microbes which can indirectly harm various important soil processes like phosphorous uptake by the crops etc. In case of Bt. Cotton crops, bollworms are annihilated beyond the threshold level, endangering its predator species.
Reduced crop genetic diversity: if the inserted gene can stay away and contaminate the native varieties then it’ll create a serious threat to the inherent crop biodiversity of our country.
So, more research is needed to determine the conditions under which gene flow from transgenic plants is likely to be significant. The issue of food safety is also a major concern as it affects domestic market and export. Some of the food safety concerns are,
Possibility of new pathogen reduced nutritional value
Possibility of toxins in food
Transfer of antibiotic resistance to human
Introduction of human allergens etc.
Raising transgenic crops can create some problems for the farm management. Like if the farmer is raising both transgenic and conventional crops, cultural operations will be different for both of them and also harvesting should be separate which is not so easy in all cases. Again farmers who choose not to raise transgenic crops still are at a risk by contamination from the transgenic ones.
The problems and concerns of farmers and general public will not be solved by biological or natural sciences alone. We need a humane element to it. Farmers should have that freedom of what to grow and for us what to eat depending upon the choices based on true facts. Definitely no technology is hundred percent perfect, it has glitches and short comings. But if we want to be prioritized then let’s face it.....because without facing, we can’t get the answer.
Note: References for the above article has been taken from various magazines like Agriculture Today, different newspapers and informative websites.
Anyakshi Das
PGPABM-I
MANAGE, Hyderabad
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