Agriculture: Part 2 - GM Crops

As the world population balloons over seven billion people, the food and energy demands across the world pose fundamental questions regarding the use of the world’s finite resources. Today, more than one in seven people still do not have access to sufficient protein and even more suffer from some form of micronutrient malnourishment (Charles, 2010). Recent studies predict a global population of nine billion by mid century, resulting in even greater demands for food, land, water, and energy. Furthermore, global climate change is expected to continue through the century, causing negative effects to food production, as the yields of many important crops decline at higher temperatures (Fedoroff, 2010). In addition, some agricultural land has been lost to urbanization, desertification, salinization, and soil erosion; thus more food must be produced with equal or less amount of land. To meet the recent Declaration of the World Summit on Food Security target of 70% more food by 2050, an average annual increase in production by 38% must be sustained for forty years. This unprecedented scale of sustained increase in global food production requires substantial changes in methods for agronomic processes and crop improvement (Tester, 2010). Fortunately, scientific advancements in the last fifty years have allowed scientists to genetically manipulate plants to genetically modify (GM) crops. This GM technology has increased both the speed and types of genetic changes that can be made to crops because the donor gene pool for crop improvement now includes nearly all organisms. Farmers across the world have employed GM technology and experienced great success, reporting greater yields, decreased usage in insecticide application, while maintaining sustainable practices (Carpenter, 2010). However, GM technology has faced heavy resistance in many countries, as well as strict regulations that have prevented an efficient delivery of the technology (Tester, 2010). But with the reality of global climate change and energy strains, GM technology remains central to global food security for the 21^st century. The world must unite to reduce regulations in GM technology to increase agricultural output and improve nutritional value of foods while maintaining sustainable practices for the long term.

            With rising food requirements to meet the global population increases and little change in the available agricultural area, GM technology successfully answers the call for improvement in crop yields across the world to maximize land usage efficiently. GM traits, such as insect or herbicide tolerance, help increase yields by protecting the crops that would otherwise be lost to insects or weeds. But since the first implementation of GM technology, there have been a number of claims from opponents that GM crops do not increase crop yield. In India, GM cotton yields in Andhra Pradesh were no better than non-GM cotton in 2002, the first year of commercial GM cotton planting. However, the flat yield can be explained by a severe drought in the region and the parental cotton plant used in the genetic engineered variant was not well suited to extreme drought. Unlike in Andhra Pradesh, in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, the GM crops had an average 42% increase in yield with GM cotton in the same year (Qaim, 2006). The differences in yield shows that GM crops can be extremely efficient if well suited for the environment it will grow in. If not, the efficiency of the GM crops is simply equal to non-GM crops. In 2010, an article supported by CropLife International summarized the results of 49 peer reviewed studies on GM crops worldwide. On average, farmers in developed countries experienced an increase in yield of 6% and an increase of 29% in underdeveloped countries (Carpenter, 2010). Since these yield increases are documented as percentages, the increases also depends on how effective a farmer’s weed and insect control programs were before planting a GM crop. If weeds and insects were controlled well before, then the insect and herbicide tolerance traits wouldn’t be the primary factor in increasing yield. In developing nations, resources to control weeds and insects are often limited, so GM crops increase yields substantially more than in developed nations. Hence, the implementation of GM crops in developing countries would greatly improve their quality of life. With increases in crop yield experienced by farmers across the world, GM technology is crucial piece in solving not only the food demands of the 21^st century, but also improving the food quality of the crop.

            In addition to increasing yields across the world, genetic modifications of crop plants using GM technology can also improve the nutritional value of the product. In 2000, scientists modified rice to biosynthesize beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A in the edible part of rice. The golden rice was developed as fortified food to be grown in regions of the world where population faces a shortage of dietary vitamin A. Critics of genetically engineered crops raised various concerns with the golden rice, but most importantly that it did not have sufficient vitamin A ((Ye, 2000). Scientists resolved this problem by developing newer strains of rice, including a new variety called Golden Rice 2, that produced 23 times more beta-carotene than the original variety of golden rice (Paine, 2005). In the last decade, scientists have genetically modified fruits and vegetables to offer higher levels of anti-oxidant vitamins to ward off cancer or heart disease. GM technology allows scientists to improve food quality and develop foods to target deficient populations (Reddy, 2007). This is especially important in regions where access to food is limited and balanced diets are difficult to achieve. Further, there are no documented adverse health effects caused by products approved for sale to date.  Hence, these genetic modifications are only improving the nutritional value of the product. In addition, GM crops reduced insecticide application of Bt crops by 14-76% across the world, according to a 2010 article supported by CropLife International (Carpenter, 2010). These toxic inputs result in less nutritious product, which ultimately harms the consumer (Beus and Dunlap, 1990). As a result, the reduced use of pesticides and insecticides improve the quality of the product as well as minimizing the effects of soil erosion and pollution to water bodies (Berry, 1987). Hence, since the increased use of GM crops will result in more nutritious product while reducing the input of toxic chemicals, GM technology should be utilized as a tool to improve the food quality of the millions of people suffering from an imbalanced diet.

            Despite improvements in yield and quality, strict regulations and high costs have prevented the widespread delivery of GM technology to address the problems of global food security problems. In the United States, there are three major agencies regulating the production and safety of genetically modified food:  the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  As a result, these agencies impose strict regulations on new GM technologies, thereby increasing the production time. Furthermore, these regulations result in high costs during the release of GM crops (Tester, 2010). However, regulations remain important in maintaining the safety of GM crops. In 1996, a GM plant did not reach the market due to it producing an allergic reaction. The allergen was unintentionally transferred from the Brazil nut to genetically engineered soybeans in an attempt to improve the nutritional quality of the soybean. As a result of the allergen, production of the  soybean strain was halted to ensure that none of the soybeans enter the human food chain (Nordlee, 1996). Due to these possible unintended effects, government regulations are still necessary to protect the consumer. However, the strict regulations can perhaps be streamlined with the introduction of a new government agency solely responsible for GM food regulation. This would speed the widespread delivery of GM technologies while maintaining the safety of the products.

            With great social implications for the entire world, humans must address the fundamental issues of global climate change, global population growth, and food production. The world faces humongous challenges of global food security that cannot be addressed without the cooperation and unity of all. Backed by countless scientific studies, GM technology has shown tremendous results in improving yields, raising nutritious content, and decreasing the use of toxic chemicals. While unintended consequences are possible, genetic modifications to food requires some relaxation in its regulation while a streamlined regulation process to allow for smooth, efficient implementations of GM technologies. Since the technology is limited by political and bioethical issues, scientists must continue educating the public about GM technology. But without the public overcoming previous biases about GM crops, the global food security remains highly threatened. 

Literature Cited

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Paine, Jacqueline, Catherine Shipton and Sunandha Chaggar. "Improving the nutritional value of Golden Rice through increased pro-vitamin A content." Nature Biotechnology 23 (2005): 482-487. Journal.

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Wendell, Berry. "Six Agricultural Fallacies." Small Farmer's Journal (1987): 12-14. Journal.

Ye, Xudong and Salim Al-Babili. "Engineering the Provitamin A (β-Carotene) Biosynthetic Pathway into (Carotenoid-Free) Rice Endosperm." Science 287 (2000): 303-305. Magazine.