FNB News - Feature Delay in GM food may cost India heavily

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Feature
Delay in GM food may cost India heavily

Thursday, 10 March, 2011, 08 : 00 AM [IST]

Hasan Mulani, Mumbai

“Everything else can wait, but not agriculture.” This was stated by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India, in his address to the nation “India’s tryst with destiny.” It’s been over 63 years now, things have changed scruffily.

With as estimated population of over 130 crore (Census 2011 estimation) today – we must google multitude sources and technologies to feed the mammoth population. On the other hand, irregular food prices, inflation, poor output during insufficient or intense rain have shown us that our traditional agriculture methodologies, seeds and equipment are not sufficient to bring food security. Says, Dr Uday Annapure – associate professor – food chemistry, coordinator for food biotechnology at Food Engineering and Technology Department, ICT Mumbai, and vice-president of the Association of Food Scientists and Technologists (India) – Mumbai Chapter, “GM food is the only option for us to attain food security in present and future. In recent years the safety and quality of GM foods have been questioned but if consumer confidence and demand are high in scientifically developed countries like the US and China one should not worry about the consequences of GM crops.”

Currently, Dr Annapure is on a US visit, supported by department of science and technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, to study application of Pulsed Electric Field in fruit juice preservation, particularly on grape juice.

According to him, the genetic modification is nothing but a manual cross-breeding which is similar to natural breeding. From over thousand years, many plants had hybridised its seeds with other plants through wind, insects and other mode of DNA transplants. Today, experts are following the same pattern to enhance the food grain production.

Recently, the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), under University of Mumbai has also started new course in food biotechnology. “In the era of genetically modified (GM) foods, food biotechnology offers a plethora of opportunities in biotech agriculture. It is a two-year post-graduate course, supported by DBT, Govt of India. Our current intake capacity for this course is only 10 students who also enjoy fellowship of Rs 8000 per month,” he added.

In the last few years, many renowned scientists like Dr M S Swaminathan, the father of India’s Green Revolution, Arjula R Reddy, co-chairman of the high-power Genetic Engineering Appeals Committee (GEAC), now Genetic Engineering Assessment Committee, C R Bhatia, geneticist and plant breeder, and Dr Clive James, founder and chairman of the International Service for Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) have been regularly asking the government to fasten the GM study, approvals, create awareness about genetically modified foods, and also look at other developing nations’ approach towards GM crops.

Arjula R Reddy said that China had taken one major step forward in the production of Bt rice varieties by becoming the first country to give Bio Safety Approval (BSA) for the development of Bt rice varieties.

Prof. Reddy, a scientist in genetics, said that in a year or two China would be out with disease-and-insect-resistant Bt varieties of rice which would considerably reduce the cost of cultivation and increase productivity. “In India, several companies and research and development institutes were in the process of conducting various tests of Bt rice traits in different laboratories. However, so far, no company has come before the GEAC seeking BSA for Bt rice. India would be left behind in the race if a research and development activity in Bt rice variety is delayed any further,” he added.

In one of the talks Dr Swaminathan said, “People should be given education on genetically modified vegetables like Bt Brinjal. People should understand the difference between genetically modified vegetables and others. We must promote genetic literacy needed for the promotion of genetic foods.”

On climate change and rising need of GM foods, Swaminathan said agriculture witnessed negative growth compared to population growth last year for the first time. “This may be due to floods and drought,” he said, adding the year 2009 witnessed an increase of one degree in average temperature.

C R Bhatia said, “The use of Biotechnology in agriculture has revealed that GM crops help enhance food production and also offer food security and sustainability. Many countries have adopted BT crops and are successful in achieving their food requirement.” Further, international experts are expecting the global population to reach 9.5 billion by 2050.

Speaking on alleviation of the global poverty, Dr James during his trip to India, said, “During 1996-2008, the BT crops have benefited over 13.3 million farmers in which over 90% are poor and small farmers across 25 countries in the world. In the last one decade, the productivity has been increased by 44% in almost all BT users’ countries.” Currently, the leading GM crops users are the US (65 million hectares), Argentina (25 million hectares), Brazil (20 million hectares), India (10 million hectares) and Canada (10 million hectares).

“Today, many African countries are fighting for food and about 10 million out of 35 million population in Kenya are under poverty due to drought and famine. The drastic climatic change in Asian countries, particularly in India, may create a similar situation.

“The basic food grains like rice, wheat, maize, corn and others will not allow us to increase the production unless we use state-of-the-art technology. We are sure that the GM crops will help the country to amplify the production with reduction in cost of production and eco-friendliness,” Dr James added. According to the latest report by ISAAA, India has become the 4th largest user of GM (genetically modified) crops accounting for over 10 million hectares of land under cultivation. India has so far approved only the cultivation of GM cotton in the country.

“At present, the agricultural biotechnology is in its nascent stage. Many countries like Brazil, China and EU have understood the value of GM crops for their present and the future requirement. India has great potential to become the leader and food factory for the world. For instance, China has 20% of the world population but only 6% land for food production, whereas India has over 16% land under cultivation which can help meet food, feed and fiber security for today and tomorrow,” Dr James told F&B News.