GM Crops: No panacea to food security

Genetically Modified: An alteration of genetic material of an organism by modern

biotechnological techniques, whereby new DNA is inserted into the host organism by first
isolating and copying the genetic material of interest and then inserting this construct into the
host organism. The technology of Genetic Modification is often applied to create organisms that
do not normally exist in nature and crossing natural reproductive barriers, cutting across even
animal kingdoms.
The introduction of Genetically Modified (GM) crops have kick started a huge controversy
across the world which has never been seen before with any other technologies in agriculture.
The introduction of Genetically Modified (GM) crops have kick started a huge controversy
across the world which has never been seen before with any other technologies in agriculture.
GM foods were first put on the market in the early 1990s. Typically, genetically modified foods
are plant products: soybean, corn, canola, and cotton seed oil, but animal products have been
proposed.
The first commercially grown genetically modified whole food crop was the tomato puree
(called FlavrSavr), which was made more resistant to rotting by Californian company. Currently,
there are a number of foods of which a genetically modified version exists. Due to this growing
scientific evidence on the lack of safety of GM crops and reality of corporate monopoly in seeds,
majority of countries have shunned this so-called gene revolution path for agricultural
development. It has been 19 years since the first GM crop was introduced for commercial
cultivation and today 75% of GM crop cultivation happens in just 3 countries; USA, Brazil and
Argentina. Even today only less than 4% of the global agriculture land is under GM crops.
GM debate in India:
Having failed to pass the test on safety and on farm performance there is a strong propoganda
from the GM crop developers and their promoters to project this risky technology as a necessity
if we want to achieve food security. Unfortunately this argument has been taken up by
responsible agencies like the Union Ministry of Agriculture as reflected in their affidavit filed in
the Supreme Court of India on a PIL filed on the matter of open releases of GM crops. This
briefing tries to look at this argument in a logical manner, looking both at what constitutes food
security and what is the current situation in our country interms of food production and
distribution systems along with other factors that are the essential components of Food security
in our context.
Some of the advantages of GM foods:
There is a need to produce inexpensive, safe and nutritious foods to help feed the worlds
growing population.
Genetic modification may provide:
Pest resistance Crop losses from insect pests can be staggering, resulting in devastating
financial loss for farmers and starvation in developing countries. Growing GM foods
such as B.t. corn can help eliminate the application of chemical pesticides and reduce the
cost of bringing a crop to market.
Herbicide tolerance For some crops, it is not cost-effective to remove weeds by physical
means such as tilling, so farmers will often spray large quantities of different herbicides
(weed-killer) to destroy weeds, a time-consuming and expensive process, that requires
care so that the herbicide doesn't harm the crop plant or the environment. Crop plants
genetically-engineered to be resistant to one very powerful herbicide could help prevent
environmental damage by reducing the amount of herbicides needed.
Disease resistance There are many viruses, fungi and bacteria that cause plant diseases.
Plant biologists are working to create plants with genetically-engineered resistance to
these diseases.
Cold tolerance Unexpected frost can destroy sensitive seedlings. An antifreeze gene from
cold water fish has been introduced into plants such as tobacco and potato. With this
antifreeze gene, these plants are able to tolerate cold temperatures that normally would
kill unmodified seedlings.
Drought tolerance/salinity tolerance As the world population grows and more land is
utilized for housing instead of food production, farmers will need to grow crops in
locations previously unsuited for plant cultivation. Creating plants that can withstand
long periods of drought or high salt content in soil and groundwater will help people to
grow crops in formerly inhospitable place.
Nutrition Malnutrition is common in third world countries where impoverished peoples
rely on a single crop such as rice for the main staple of their diet. However, rice does not
contain adequate amounts of all necessary nutrients to prevent malnutrition. If rice could
be genetically engineered to contain additional vitamins and minerals, nutrient
deficiencies could be alleviated.
Pharmaceuticals Medicines and vaccines often are costly to produce and sometimes
require special storage conditions not readily available in third world countries.
Researchers are working to develop edible vaccines in tomatoes and potatoes. These
vaccines will be much easier to ship, store and administer than traditional injectable
vaccines.
Phytoremediation Not all GM plants are grown as crops. Soil and groundwater pollution
continues to be a problem in all parts of the world. Plants such as poplar trees have been
genetically engineered to clean up heavy metal pollution from contaminated soil.
Some of the disadvantages of GM foods:
Food regulatory authorities require that GM foods receive individual pre-market safety
assessments. Also, the principle of substantial equivalence is used. This means that an existing
food is compared with its genetically modified counterpart to find any differences between the
existing food and the new product. The assessment investigates:
Toxicity (using similar methods to those used for conventional foods).
Tendency to provoke any allergic reaction.
Stability of the inserted gene.
Whether there is any nutritional deficit or change in the GM food.
Any other unintended effects of the gene insertion.
Human health risks
Allergenicity Many children in the US and Europe have developed life-threatening
allergies to peanuts and other foods. There is a possibility that introducing a gene into a
plant may create a new allergen or cause an allergic reaction in susceptible individuals.
Unknown effects on human health There is a growing concern that introducing foreign
genes into food plants may have an unexpected and negative impact on human health.
On the whole, with the exception of possible allergenicity, scientists believe that GM foods do
not present a risk to human health.
Economic concerns:
Bringing a GM food to market is a lengthy and costly process, and of course agri-biotech
companies wish to ensure a profitable return on their investment. Many new plant genetic
engineering technologies and GM plants have been patented, and patent infringement is a big
concern of agribusiness. Yet consumer advocates are worried that patenting these new plant
varieties will raise the price of seeds so high that small farmers and third world countries will not
be able to afford seeds for GM crops, thus widening the gap between the wealthy and the poor.
One way to combat possible patent infringement is to introduce a "suicide gene" into GM plants.
These plants would be viable for only one growing season and would produce sterile seeds that
do not germinate. Farmers would need to buy a fresh supply of seeds each year. However, this
would be financially disastrous for farmers in third world countries who cannot afford to buy
seed each year and traditionally set aside a portion of their harvest to plant in the next growing
season.
At this juncture it will be useful for us to heed to the International Assessment of Agricultural
Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD), one of most detailed assessments of the
agriculture science and technology ever done in the world. The initiative sponsored by UN and
the world bank had across the world analyzing the developments in agricultural science and
technology and their impacts in the last 50 years. The IAASTD report to which India is also a
signatory calls for a fundamental change in farming practices in order to address soaring food
prices, hunger, social inequities and environmental disasters. It acknowledges that genetically
engineered crops are highly controversial and will not play a substantial role in addressing the
key problems of climate change, biodiversity loss, hunger and poverty. It recommends small-
scale farmers and agro-ecological methods is the way forward if the current food crisis is to be
solved and to meet the needs of local communities, declaring indigenous and local knowledge
play as important a role as formal science - a significant departure from the destructive chemical-
dependent, one-size-fits-all model of industrial agriculture23. Agro-ecology is a scientific
practice and a bottom up approach to sustainable farming has been endorsed by many
international reputed bodies as a way forward for food security. Agro ecology minimizes the use
of agro-chemical inputs and leverages on interactions between the biological components of the
agro-ecosystem. This in-turn produces productivity, crop protection and soil fertility. Most
importantly this contributes by creating resilience to unpredictable changes at local levels. Agro
ecology will help create sustainable farming systems that will have potential to ensure food,
nutrition and wealth to the poorest and low-yield farming communities that are needed according
to the UN-FAO to feed the world.
India as a nation is struggling with the big question to achieve food security with a growing
population and the already starving millions. It is important that our decision makers do not to
get distracted by techno-fixes like GM crops which are promoted by global biotech seed
companies as a silver bullet. It is established that a multipronged approach which includes:
(a) The promotion of sustainable food production systems,
(b) Efficient food distribution and
(c) Ensuring livelihood security of citizens is the way forward for our country to be food secure,
now and in future.

Sangeeta Bishnoi


http://www.greenpeace.org/india/Global/india/report/GM_Food_Security_Brief.pdf
http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php
http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/bitstream/123456789/7916/1/14.pdf