Gene Revolution-Boon or Bane?
Gene Revolution-Boon or Bane? How does a government feed a developing nation populated with over 1.22 billion people. Does it grow all the food, export more or adopt agricultural practices which are fast yielding and technically sound. Reading reports about food security in India from two controversial opinions can get a reader confused. After all, with so much information overload sometimes it gets difficult to form an opinion especially if one is not technically savvy in what is termed as ‘Gene/Biotechnology in agriculture’ language.
A report in The Hindu suggests that genetically modified crops (or GM crops as they are called locally) being used by farmers in India should go back to the lab for further testing as these crops showed high levels of toxicity resulting in serious health impacts. In a report published by scientific journal Food and Chemical Toxicology, long-term feeding trials on rats showed that females developed fatal mammary tumors and pituitary disorders while males suffered liver damage, developed kidney and skin tumors and experienced problems with their digestive system.
It is no wonder that in October 2012, a Technical Expert Commitee (TEC) appointed by the Supreme court of India issued a 10 year ban on field trials of genetically modified food crops. Basudeb Acharia, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture opines that GM (genetically modified ) crops is not the panacea for food security in India. According to him, way back in the 1950′s we were producing 52 million tonnes of grain and are today producing 257 million tonnes without using GM technology.
So what is GM technology and how does one define Gene Revolution? It is the application of bio-technology in food production. It provides disease-free planting material and develops crops that resist pests and diseases, reducing use of chemicals that harm the environment and human health.
In India the process of using genetically modified crops began with the Green Revolution between the years 1960 to 2000. The then Minister for Food and Agriculture, Mr. C Subramaniam gave directives to farmers to use high yielding cereal crops which proved to be a boon for a nation close on the brink of a hunger disaster. India’s wheat yield increased more than threefold dramatically.
Clive James, founder and chair of ISAAA, has illustrated the importance of GM BT Cotton crops that have been delivered to India. These have brought spectacular benefits to farmers in the country.
Malcolm Elliot, the founding director of of the Norman Borlang Institute of Global Food Security says that he is deeply distressed by the outrageous claims made by the Anti Biotech groups in India who are campaigning against the use of this Green Technology . He further states that India’s consensus that gene techniques confer incremental toxicity is false and that newer and more precise techniques makes the product even safer.
The debate on the pros and cons of genetically engineered/modified crops is universal and ongoing. The important question here is moving forward, by 2050 the world’s population will exceed nine billion and combined with environmental crises of producing food on less land with less water, few agrochemicals and less fossil fuels -how will the task of feeding the world be accomplished ?
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