Agriculture across the globe is becoming more technology-driven. The use of chemicals to increase yield, and fight pests is increasingly becoming less effective and less acceptable environmentally. Application of biotechnology and genetic engineering to create desired traits and capability in a plant is the new trend. It has been proved to be more effective, economic and environmentally sustainable. The tools of biotechnology are also being increasingly used to add nutritional value to a crop like betacarotene-rich rice, to incorporate new properties to survive flood, salinity and drought, resistance to chosen pests and to enable plants to withstand the ill-effects of application of chemicals .
Unfortunately, in India, only GM cotton, now known as Bt cotton, has been given approval for commercial cultivation. Genetically modified edible crops, fruits and vegetables, also are now ready for commercial release. The first such crop will be Bt brinjal developed by Mahyco. Another 10 edible crops, like cauliflower, lady?s finger (okra), papaya, banana, onion, tomato, water melon, potato, cabbage and cassava are at various stages of research and trials by national laboratories and multinational joint venture seed companies.
Research is also under way to create salinity, drought and flood resistant paddy in the laboratories of the International Rice Research Institute Manila and also in Indian laboratories. A genetcially modified groundnut variety, which is immune to the tobacco streak virus (TSV), is being developed by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics.
There were early worries about intellectual property rights and cornering of the market for seeds by certain firms. That does not hold true. In fact, the monopoly of Monsanto over Bt cotton technology has been broken with the commercial release of the two varieties of GM cotton seeds, developed by the Central Cotton Research Institute in the current season. Now Bt cotton is planted in over 6 million hectares in the country and India has become the second largest cotton producing country in the world.
?joseph.vackayil@expressindia.com