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Title: Modern agricultural biotechnology includes


1
Agricultural Biotechnology
Modern agricultural biotechnology includes
manipulation of the genetic make-up of organisms
for use in the production or processing of
agricultural products.
  • Why Agricultural Biotechnology?
  • to raise and stabilize yields
  • to improve resistance to pests and diseases
  • to improve resistance to drought, cold, etc.
  • to enhance the nutritional content of foods

2
Agricultural Biotechnology
Agricultural biotechnology uses genetic
engineering which is a process of inserting a
foreign gene into a plant/animal cell and cloning
that cell into a genetically engineered
crop/animal.
3
Agricultural Biotechnology
When the bacterium infects the plant, it
penetrates the plants cells and transfers its
modified DNA to the plant.
Once the DNA reaches the cell nucleus, it inserts
itself at random into one of the host
chromosomes.
The genetically modified plant is then grown from
the transformed cell.
The DNA may also be physically shot into the
plant nucleus carried on microscopic particles of
tungsten or gold using gene guns.
http//www.greenfacts.org/en/gmo/2-genetically-mod
ified-crops/ 2-genetic-engineering.htm
4
Agricultural Biotechnology
Bt toxin bred GM crop
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a common soil
bacterium that produces crystals containing
proteins that are toxic to certain insects.
The Bt gene was successfully inserted into the
genome of several crops.
The insertion of the Bt gene directly into the
genome of crops allowed the crops to constantly
produce Bt toxin crystals in all tissues of the
plant. No application of any pesticide is
required to protect the crop from a large number
of pests.
5
Agricultural Biotechnology
Increased crop productivity
Crop productivity could be increased by
introducing such qualities as disease resistance
and increased drought tolerance to the crops.
Genes from naturally drought-resistant plants
can be used to increase drought tolerance in many
crop varieties growing in dry climates so that
crops shall use water as efficiently as possible.
Source http//www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/gmo/risks/bene
fits.asp
6
Agricultural Biotechnology
Enhanced crop production
An effective transgenic crop-protection
technology can control pests better and more
cheaply than existing technologies. For
example, with Bt toxin bred into a corn crop, the
entire crop is resistant to certain pests. In
these cases, yields increase as the new
technology provides more effective control.
Source http//www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/gmo/risks/bene
fits.asp
7
Agricultural Biotechnology
Improvement in food processing
The first GM food product to receive regulatory
approval, in 1990, was chymosin, an enzyme
produced by genetically engineered bacteria. It
replaces calf rennet in cheese-making and is now
used in 60 of all cheese manufactured. Its
benefits include increased purity, a reliable
supply, a 50 cost reduction, and high
cheese-yield efficiency.
Source http//www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/gmo/risks/bene
fits.asp
8
Agricultural Biotechnology
Improved nutritional value
Transgenic crops in development include -
soybeans with higher protein content, -
potatoes with more nutritionally available starch
and an improved amino acid content, - beans
with more essential amino acids, and - rice with
the ability produce beta-carotene, a precursor of
vitamin A, to help prevent blindness in people
who have nutritionally inadequate diets.
Source http//www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/gmo/risks/bene
fits.asp
9
Agricultural Biotechnology
Improved flavour
Flavor can be altered by enhancing the activity
of plant enzymes. Types of peppers and melons
with improved flavor are currently in field
trials.
Source http//www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/gmo/risks/bene
fits.asp
10
Agricultural Biotechnology
Fresher produce
Genetic modification can result in improved
keeping properties to make transport of fresh
produce easier, giving consumers access to
nutritionally valuable whole foods and preventing
decay, damage, and loss of nutrients.
Transgenic tomatoes with delayed softening can
be vine-ripened and still be shipped without
bruising. The shelf-life of some processed
foods such as peanuts has also been improved.
Source http//www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/gmo/risks/bene
fits.asp
11
Agricultural Biotechnology
Environmental benefits
When genetic engineering results in reduced
pesticide dependence, we have less pesticide
residues on foods, we reduce pesticide leaching
into groundwater, and we minimize farm worker
exposure to hazardous products. With Bt
cottons resistance to three major pests, the
transgenic variety now represents half of the
U.S. cotton crop and has thereby reduced total
world insecticide use by 15
Source http//www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/gmo/risks/bene
fits.asp
12
Agricultural Biotechnology
Antibiotic resistance
Antibiotic resistance genes are used to identify
and trace a trait of interest that has been
introduced into plant cells. Use of these
markers has raised concerns that new
antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria will
emerge. The rise of diseases that are resistant
to treatment with common antibiotics is a serious
medical concern of genetic engineering.
Source http//www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/gmo/risks/bene
fits.asp
13
Agricultural Biotechnology
Potential gene escape and development of
superweeds
New transgenic crops might cross-pollinate with
related weeds, possibly resulting in superweeds
that become more difficult to control. Genetic
engineering could improve a plants ability to
escape into the wild and produce ecological
imbalances or disasters.
Source http//www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/gmo/risks/bene
fits.asp
14
Agricultural Biotechnology
Impacts on non-target species
Modified crops released into the environment
could have unforeseen and undesirable effects.
Bt corn produces a very specific pesticide
intended to kill only pests that feed on the
corn. In 1999, however, researchers at Cornell
University found that pollen from Bt corn could
kill caterpillars of the harmless Monarch
butterfly.
Source http//www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/gmo/risks/bene
fits.asp
15
Agricultural Biotechnology
Insecticide resistance
Insect pests could develop resistance to
crop-protection features of transgenic crops.
There is fear that large-scale adoption of Bt
crops will result in rapid build-up of resistance
in pest populations. Insects possess a
remarkable capacity to adapt to selective
pressures, but to date, despite widespread
planting of Bt crops, no Bt tolerance in targeted
insect pests has been detected.
Source http//www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/gmo/risks/bene
fits.asp
16
Agricultural Biotechnology
Loss of Biodiversity
While transgenic crops help ensure a reliable
supply of basic foodstuffs, loss of agricultural
biodiversity and wild biodiversity could not be
overruled consequence.
17
Agricultural Biotechnology
Allergens and Toxins
The process of inserting a foreign gene into a
plant cell and cloning that cell into a
genetically engineered crop could cause the
natural plant genes to be deleted or permanently
turned on or off, and hundreds can change their
function. This massive collateral damage is why
GM soy has less protein, an unexpected new
allergen, and up to seven times higher levels of
a known soy allergen. It also may explain why
British soy allergies skyrocketed by 50 soon
after GM soy was introduced.
Rat babies of same age
Source http//www.foodhaccp.com/memberonly/newsle
tter281.html
18
Agricultural Biotechnology
Born to and raised by a mother on a conventional
soy diet
Born to and raised by a mother on GM soy diet
Research results of a team led by Irina Ermakova,
Doctor of Biology, at the Institute of Higher
Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of the
Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).
Rat babies of same age
Sourcehttp//www.biotech-weblog.com/50226711/ gen
etically_modified_soy_in_russia.php
19
Agricultural Biotechnology
GM corn and cotton have genes inserted that
produce a pesticide called Bt. If the gene
transferred from corn snacks, for example, it
could turn our intestinal flora into living
pesticide factories. Farmers on three
continents link Bt corn varieties with sterility
in pigs and cows, or deaths among cows, horses,
water buffaloes and chickens. Hundreds of farm
workers who pick Bt cotton get allergic
reactions.
Rat babies of same age
Source http//www.foodhaccp.com/memberonly/newsle
tter281.html
20
Agricultural Biotechnology
Although biotechnology may be a powerful and
intellectually stimulating tool, GM crops are
developed largely for profit motives and
therefore could carry significant yet hard to
quantify risks.
Maria Alice Garcia Instituto de Biologia,
Universidade Estadual de Campinas Miguel A.
Altieri University of California, Berkeley
Rat babies of same age
21
Sustainable Agriculture
  • is an integrated system of plant and animal
    production practicesthat will
  • satisfy human food and fiber needs
  • enhance environmental quality
  • make the most efficient use of
  • nonrenewable
    resources
  • sustain economic viability, and
  • enhance quality of life.

1990 Farm Bill
22
Sustainable Agriculture
All sustainable agricultural production systems
and practices are economically viable,
environmentally sound, and socially acceptable.
General definition
23
Sustainable Agriculture
economically viable
  • provides a secure living for farm families
  • provides a secure living to other workers in
  • the food system
  • provides access to good food for all

24
Sustainable Agriculture
environmentally sound
  • preserves the quality of soil, water, and air
  • cooperates with and is modeled on
  • natural systems

25
Sustainable Agriculture
socially acceptable
  • good for families
  • supports communities
  • fair to all involved

26
Sustainable Agriculture
NAVDANYA, India owning life, owning seeds and
owning water
  • encourages farmers to produce hardy native
    varieties of crops that can be grown organically
    with natural fertilizer and no artificial
    chemicals
  • has collected 2,000 native seed varieties which
    they distribute among farmers
  • helps local farmers form their own
    self-supporting organization and seed bank
  • has set up a marketing network through which
    farmers sell their organic harvest
  • has shown that organic farmers with the
    knowledge of local conditions and traditional
    methods can achieve high yields at little cost to
    the environment, and thereby has set an
    eco-friendly standard

Source M. Ganguly, Seeds of Self-Reliance. Time,
Sept 02, 2002 p71.
27
Sustainable Agriculture
The good earth will fail us of we fail her but
she will sustain us if we treat her right
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