‘GM’ NEED NOT BE A DIRTY WORD

The popular backlash to genetically modified crops ignores the fact that the ability to add value to agricultural produce is part of our economic history. Not adopting agricultural biotechnology, and risking food shortages in the near future, is an unsustainable proposition

The opposition to genetically modified crops has gained momentum even though ‘green’ activists often do not have all the facts and figures about the progress made by such crops in the recent years. In a world, where population is increasing at such a rate that the demand for food will nearly double by 2050, biotechnology can help achieve food security, as well as improve health in developing countries by enhancing food nutrition.

Agriculture needs to be viewed as a knowledge-based entrepreneurial activity, and biotechnology has enabled genetic advancement of crops, improved soil productivity, and enhanced weed and pest control. Since the introduction of large-scale GM crop cultivation in 1996, more than 79 per cent of soybean, 70 per cent of cotton, 32 per cent of corn, and 24 per cent of canola grown worldwide comes from GM seeds. The rapid adoption of GM crops demonstrates that they offer great economic benefits. Farmers experience lower production costs and higher yields because weed control is cheaper and fewer losses are sustained from pests. These crops are also safer to handle than those raised on traditional chemical pesticides.

In 2013, 18 million farmers grew GM crops in 27 countries around the world. Of these, 90 per cent were small and resource-poor farmers from developing countries. Most of the benefits to such farmers have come from cotton. For example, between 2002 and 2012, Bacillus thuringiensis cotton added $9.4 billion worth of value to farmers in India, cut insecticide use by half, helped double the yield, and turned the country from a cotton importer into a major exporter. Do remember that this came after cotton production was falling in the 1990s.

Farmers from cotton growing States have led the way, and after doubling production, are ready to do more. After fighting bollworm insects, which cotton seeds with Bt. technologies have helped manage, weeds are the next big challenge for the farmers. Weeds compete with the crop for nutrition and lower productivity.

To take full advantage of the many applications of biotechnology in agriculture, Indian policymakers are asking if aversion to and over-regulation of GM production is warranted. Trends suggest that future decisions on GM crops will be driven by local needs. For example, the water-efficient maize for Africa, coordinated by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation in collaboration with the International Centre for the Improvement of Maize and Wheat Center in Mexico, is likely to attract interest in India.

Despite the fact that GM crops have the potential to greatly increase crop and livestock productivity and nutrition, a popular backlash against GM foods has created a harsh political atmosphere under which tight regulations are being developed. Much of the inspiration for restrictive regulation comes from the Cartagena Protocol on Bio-safety under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. The central doctrine of the Cartagena Protocol is the “precautionary principle” that empowers Governments to restrict the release of products or their consumption if there are any hypothetical hazards, even if there is no scientific evidence that they are harmful. This approach differs from food safety practices adopted by the World Trade Organization that allow governments to restrict products only when there is sufficient scientific evidence of harm.

Under the precautionary principle, public perceptions are enough to trigger a ban. Those seeking stringent regulation have cited uncertainties such as horizontal transfer of genes from GM crops to their wild relatives. Others have expressed concern that the development of resistance to herbicides in GM crops might result in “super weeds”. Some have raised fears about the safety of GM foods to human health. Others are worried that farmers will be dependent on foreign firms for the supply of seed. But many forget that unlike in developed countries, where food security is assured, GM foods in emerging countries are needed to revolutionise the lives of suppliers and consumers.

In India specifically, some have pointed out that using GM seeds may make our agricultural products unfit got export, particularly to Europe. Yet, the fact is that Europe is in fact still importing huge amounts of grain, edible oils and seed meal that is transgenic. And those raising a bogey over transgenic materials will do well to remember that scientists have identified more than 98,000 viruses in the human genome, along with the mutant vestiges of 150,000 others. In the words of Carl Zimmer: “If we were to strip out all our transgenic DNA, we would become extinct”.

After working in plant sciences for the last 45 years and in the popularisation of biology among masses, this author is of the firm view that science and innovation have always been the key forces behind agricultural growth, in particular, and economic transformation, in general. The ability to add value to agricultural produce, via the application of scientific knowledge to entrepreneurial activities, stands out as one of the most important lessons of economic history. In the long run, not adopting agricultural biotechnology carries more risks than adopting it in time.

India today requires another green revolution that is based on a low input-high output model, is sustainable and resilient to climate change. The country will have to use the best of science, technology and innovation to meet these challenges. With effective use of old and new technologies, we can aspire to high annual growth in agriculture and allied areas. However, if bans and moratoriums are placed on testing transgenic crops, no scientist will enter the field and public investments, already abysmally low by international standards, will dry out. It is time Government/Ministries stopped working at cross-purposes and remembered the immortal words of Jawaharlal Nehru: “It is science alone that can solve the problems of hunger and poverty, of sanitation and illiteracy, of superstition and deadening custom and traditions. Who indeed can afford to ignore science today?”