Gm Crops

Do transgenic crops (Genetically Modified) pose an unacceptable threat to the environment and the maintenance of biodiversity or are they a necessary response to meeting the twin challenges of climate change and sustainability?

The population of the world is predicted to reach 19.9 billion by 2025 (United Nations Population Information Network, 2011). According to Purchase (2005), this increase in population will bring along with it the problem of food security. The priority for the world right now is to develop an agricultural strategy which is sustainable, environment friendly, protects the biodiversity and enhances human well being. Policymakers around the world are considering the option of transgenic or genetically modified (GM) crops to solve this problem. GM crops contain a gene or genes which have not been inserted into them through pollination but artificially. The gene which is inserted may come from the same species or different species and are resistant to insects and diseases (Bhat et al, 2005). But the debate on the potential worth of genetically modified crops to achieve world’s food security goals is increasing. The policymakers around the world have to understand how this technology works and what are the opportunities and challenges associated with this technology (Otsuka, 2003). Let us look at some statistics associated with GM crops.

According to Fish et al (2004), corn, cotton, soybeans and canola together make up around 99 percent of the total commercialized GM crops. Other GM crops are also being researched into and many of them are at trial stage. Some of them are as follows: wheat, tomato, peanut in China and eggplant, rapeseed and cauliflower in India. The six major GM crops producing nations are United States of America, Argentina, Canada, Brazil, China and South Africa. Raney (2006), points out, in spite of the debate associated with GM crops, their plantation has increased at a double digit rate since their inception in 1996. Also it is estimated that adoption rates of GM crops will continue to increase in coming years, with around 10 million farmers in about 25 countries adopting this new technology. Let us now look at some of the research and development in the field of GM crops.

Most of the research and development in the field of GM crops has been done by large pharmaceutical and chemical multinational enterprises. These private firms have been carrying out research in this field from the late 1970s. Although these large firms have helped in accelerating the development of this technology, it has also lead to some negative impacts. Firstly, it has reduced research and development activities in the small firms. Secondly, since these companies are very large and have economies of scale, they have not allowed any new players to enter the market. Lastly, it has lead to creation of a monopolistic market with prices of GM crops being higher than the competitive market price (Otsuka, 2003). The essay will now look at some of the advantages associated with GM crops.

There are many advantages of GM crops. According to Holley et al (2002), firstly, GM crops are resistant to pest. This in turn will lead to increase in the production of crops, as losses from pests and insects will decrease. It is estimated that GM crops can save around 2.6 billion American dollars, which is spent on insecticides and pesticides annually all over the world. Secondly, GM crops are more resolute than the normal crops and can withstand the forces of nature in a better way. Many GM crops can grow in weather conditions which are hostile. Thirdly, according to Fish et al (2004), GM crops can be used to decrease the malnutrition, which is a big problem in some of the developing countries. In India, for example, research is going on to produce genetically modified potato with a higher content of protein. Fourthly, GM crops lead to better management of crops. In areas where the transportation and storage facilities are not good, genetic modification can be used to increase the post harvest resistance to pests (Holley et al, 2002). Lastly, GM crops will reduce the dependence on insecticides and pesticides, thus reducing the exposure of the farmers to harmful chemicals (Butz et al, 2004).

Furthermore according to Hall et al (2010), GM crops will lead to minimum tillage of soil, thus increasing the retention of carbon in soil. He also points that genetic modification of crops such as corn and soybeans will increase the yield of these crops and surplus of these crops which are left after meeting the food requirements of the country then can be used as bio fuels. So, we can clearly see there are many advantages of GM crops. But it also has many problems associated with it.

According to Holley et al (2002), the problems associated with GM crops are as follows. Firstly, the GM crops can lead to out crossing. It means that genes of GM crops can transfer to other wild variety of the same crop thus affecting the biodiversity. Secondly, GM crops are pest resistant; this can lead to faster development of pesticide resistance in pest populations and it can also affect the non target species. Thirdly, according to Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (2000), GM crops extend the scope of environments in which crops can be planted, this leads to increased pressure on farmlands which in turn affects the ecosystem. Fourthly, GM crops can cause reactions which are allergic to some people. For example, in Brazil, a gene of Brazilian nut was introduced in soybeans which caused allergic reactions in people allergic to nut (World Health Organisation (WHO), 2005). Lastly, in some GM crops antibiotics resistant genes are inserted to help in the development of crop. This can severely affect the future utilization of the concerned antibiotic as a medicine. This is because when these crops are eaten by human beings, the antibiotic resistant genes come in contact with the bacteria of the digestive system and these bacteria become resistant against the antibiotics (OECD, 2000) .

Furthermore large multinational companies have the control over GM crops market. These companies can acquire rights for plants without compensating the local societies and this will lead to them having unfortunate control over farmers and farmers will be totally dependent on them for the supply of seeds (Hall et al, 2010). Thus we see that GM crops have many benefits and problems associated with it. In the next paragraph we will be looking at a case study of GM crop, known as Golden Rice.

Vitamin A is required for strong eyesight. In South East Asia every year around 5 million children are affected by night blindness. The staple food of people in this part of the world is rice. Human body produces vitamin A from the chemical known beta-carotene and rice does not contain this chemical. Research has been going on for many years to produce genetically modified rice which is rich in beta-carotene. Two scientists namely Dr. Beyer of University of Freiburg and Dr. Potrykus of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology came up with the concept of Golden Rice. Golden rice is genetically modified rice which contains strains of Beta-carotene in its genes. This innovation has both negative and positive points associated with it. The positive point is that this innovation will lead to reduction of vitamin A deficiency in people who mainly have rice as their staple food. On the other hand the negative point is that if the beta-carotene amount is more than the optimum level, then it affects the human health in a significant way (Fish et al, 2004). Thus this case study shows that GM crops if used properly can lead to lot of benefits, but if they are misused or not used properly then they can cause significant damage. For GM crops to be effective in reducing the hunger in the world, certain changes have to be brought about in its operations.

Some of the key changes which have to be brought about in the operations of GM crops are. Firstly, for GM crops to be effective in a country, both the public and private sector should take equal part to promote and fund it. Institutions should be opened which assist the farmers and educate them on various issues related to GM crops (Gardner et al, 2010). Secondly, developed countries should take active part in promoting GM crops in developing countries. They should provide the resources to developing countries to develop GM crops. Also developed countries should help developing countries in the areas of proper crop development, assessment of risk and management of intellectual property rights (Makoni et al, 2006). Thirdly, effective regulatory systems should be set up in every GM crop producing country which overlooks the process of GM crops and ensures efficiency in production (AgriFood Awareness Australia Limited, 2004). Lastly, the GM technology should be made reasonable for the farmers in the developing world (Brookes et al, 2011). GM crops is not the only way in agriculture to deal with climate change and sustainability, there are other ways to.

According to Hall et al, (2010) the other ways in agriculture to tackle the challenges of climate change and sustainability are. Firstly, increase the organic content of the soil through practises such as crop rotation and mixed farming. Organic matter such as animal manure should be put back into the soil to make it more nutrient rich. Secondly, rainwater harvesting should be promoted in the agricultural lands, so that water is made available during the dry seasons to the crops. Thirdly, excessive irrigation should be avoided and instead drip irrigation should be used, so that crops get water in optimum quantity. Lastly, the concept of agro forestry should be introduced on the agricultural lands. Agro forestry is an approach of growing trees and crops together. It leads to better land management and soil fertility (Brookes et al, 2011).

The challenge for the policymakers worldwide is to reduce the global hunger while taking into consideration the environmental impacts. GM crops can be one of the major ways of doing this. As with any other technology, it too has its benefits and problems which we have discussed in the essay. For GM crops to be effective in fighting the twin challenge of climate change and sustainability while minimizing the impacts on environment, certain changes have to be brought about in its policy and operation. Policymakers around the world should also realize that GM technology is not the only way forward and there are other ways of bringing about improvements in agriculture which should be given equal importance. Finally, it must be realized that the debate on GM crops is a part of broader political policies of the countries and many of the differences of opinions in this debate is not related to technology itself.