The use of biotechnology in agriculture

Food, the main requirement for life, comes from the field to the plate after a complex path. This journey is the result of thousands of years of human effort to increase and improve the production and quality of food. Agricultural biotechnology is the aggregation of techniques to improve plants, animals, and microbes to increase agricultural productivity. It improves the grower's ability to improve crops and livestock both qualitatively and quantitatively. DNA is thecentral element of agricultural biotechnology. An understanding of how DNA affects and directs cells to function leads to the appreciation, manipulation, and use of DNA to modulate and modify various properties of cells to produce the desired effect. While agriculture has traditionally engaged in crossbreeding, and efforts to improve product traits have over time produced plants and animals vastly different from their wild varieties, techniques involving genes and the manipulation of DNA

only came second Popular in the mid-1990s. when the first biotechnologically produced food came onto the market. .After the discovery of the structure of genes and DNA by Watson and Crick in 1953, research began to move towards the application of this knowledge.Gradually, transposons were discovered - mobile genes that cause changes in the genetic structure of the receptor, thereby changing the properties of the receptors. Tissue culture by excising part of a plant to breed new plants that result in independent pollination, embryo rescue technology that prevents the abortion of hybridized embryos, protoplast fusion that results in cell production hybrids, or the insertion of new genes have helped create new terrain . Today, biotechnologists have a number of new techniques and tools at their disposal. Let's talk about introducing biotechnology to agriculture: an innovation to end hunger in the Indian countryside.

 

VARIOUS TOOLS OF AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY 

Genetic engineering: By moving genes from one organism to another or by altering the genetic makeup, beneficial traits of donors can be replicated, e.g. Disease resistance, salt tolerance, improved yield, etc. Plants with foreign genetic material are called transgenic. They tend to be better able to withstand stress or improve performance.The global area of ​​GM agriculture has quadrupled by 2003, with leading producers like USA, China, Canada, Brazil, India, Philippines etc. growing GM crops. Developing countries are more dependent on genetically modified crops to meet their food needs. Example: herbicide-resistant soybean, BT eggplant, BT cotton, etc. 

Countries growing GM crops in 2003
50,000 hectares, or more	42.8 million	Less than 50,000 hectares
USA		Spain
Argentina	13.9 million	Mexico
Canada	4.4 million	Philippines
Brasil	3.0 million	Colombia
China	2.8 million	Bulgaria
South Africa	0.4 million	Honduras
Australia	0.10 million	Germany
India	0.10 million	Indonesia
Romania	>0.05 million
Uruguay	>0.05 million

Source: U.S. Agency for International Development, Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II, and the Program for Biosafety Systems

1.Molecular Markers: Scientists use molecular markers of desirable traits of an organism isolated from DNA and use them in reproduction. So this is more accurate. Molecular markers can also identify genes that will be deleted in future generations. Example: Molecular markers have been used for generations to produce cassava, which is resistant to cassava mosaic disease.

 

2.Molecular Diagnosis: These are techniques developed for the precise detection of genes or gene products and are commonly used to detect diseases in crops. 

3.Vaccines: These are intended to protect livestock or humans from diseases. They provide the recipient with reliable immunity.

 

Benefits of Agricultural Biotechnology

Improved crop productivity

Better crop production

Higher nutrient content

Greater product freshness

Environmental friendliness by avoiding the use of pesticides

Tolerance to herbicides

Insect/virus resistance

Delayed fruit ripening

Disadvantages of agrobiotechnology

The use of biotechnology, especially genetic engineering, is often associated with a wide range of controversies. Three types of risks can be identified:

 

Health risks

Environmental and ecological issues

Social issues

 

Health risks

Allergens/toxins introduced into food: People can be allergic to one or more components of genetically modified food, which can pose a serious health problem.

 

Antibiotic Resistance: Crops grown with resistance to various diseases can lead to the growth of resistant populations of pathogens that may not be treatable with traditional antibiotics.

 

Social Issues 

Freedom of Choice: Certain genetic manipulations may not be acceptable to people for a variety of reasons.Therefore, there should be freedom to reject them, which requires markers for genetically modified foods.

 

Terminator Technology - As a harvest is virtually complete and new seed needs to be planted, pressure is placed on the farmer. A traditional technique that may not save some of the product for future harvests. 

Environmental Issues

Superweeds: Concerns have been raised that herbicide resistance could be transmitted to wild weed strains, which could also become resistant to available herbicides.

 

Insecticide Resistance: Conventional insecticides may not be able to suppress newer species of insects that feed on GM crops. Genetically modified crops stem from this fear that, over time and through selective farming methods, we could lose the diversity of our current crops. .Therefore, they undergo a variety of tests for individual safety, nutritional value, allergenicity, toxicity, etc. The comparison is made with the traditional food considering its own potential safety issues, which vary depending on the production method and people consuming the product.

 

Environmental risk assessment

The following characteristics are taken into account:

 

• The role of the gene introduced into the plant and its characteristics are assessed
• Possible unintended secondary effects on non-target organisms 
• Possible invasion of new habitats or persistence in the environment 
• Possible spread of modified traits to related plants 
• Impact on biodiversity. 

The way to follow

The development of biosecurity systems to assess safe use and develop biotechnological innovations with multiple stakeholders from academia, industry, government and agricultural professionals is the need of the hour. Policies, standards, laws, policies, regulations and coordination are required for future progress.