Agricultural Economics II. Popp, József Agricultural Economics II

”Biotechnology” is the short form of Biological technology, often further shortened as “biotech” or even as ”BT”, which is neither a new concept nor a new application. Ancient fermented food processes, such as making bread, wine, cheese, curds, idli, dosa, etc., some of which are over 6,000 years old and developed long before man had any knowledge of the existence of the micro-organisms involved, also genuinely constitute biotechnology. Conventional agriculture (animal husbandry included) is a well-developed biotechnological industry in its own right. However, for the sake of convenience, the traditional processes are excluded from the realm of “modern biotechnology”. In simpler words, biotechnology is the industry-scale use of organisms and/or their products.

The term covers the scientific, technological and commercial aspects as well as the services rendered through them, touching almost every aspect of human wellbeing, from agriculture to therapeutics to pollution control. The hope, the hype and the vehement opposition modern biotechnology has generated in a short time are immense and unprecedented. Both the technical and non-technical literature on biotechnology is vast and diverse, often frustrating even the biologists. The students and teachers of biological sciences are also at a serious disadvantage in accessing and understanding the full measure of the implications and complications of the new technology. The diverse and often conflicting views that appear in the media leave the general public in a state of confusion. There is a clear need to disseminate factual science based information that facilitates informed decisions on the acceptance or rejection of the products and services biotechnology endlessly offers.

1. 12.1. History

For thousands of years, farmers have been using breeding techniques to “genetically modify” crops to improve quality and yield. Modern biotechnology allows plants breeders to select genes that produce beneficial traits and move them from one organism to another. Plant biotechnology is far more precise and selective than crossbreeding in producing desired agronomic traits.  Plant biotechnology has been adopted by farmers worldwide at rates never before seen by any other advances in the history of agriculture. In 2011, biotech crops were grown by 16.7 million farmers on 160 million hectares in 29 countries. The reason for such impressive adoption rates is simple – plant biotechnology delivers significant and tangible benefits, all the way from the farm to the fork. Plant biotechnology has enabled improved farming techniques and crop production around the world by increasing plants' resistance to diseases and pests; reducing pesticide applications; and maintaining and improving crop yields.

For centuries, humankind has made improvements to crop plants through selective breeding and hybridization – the controlled pollination of plants. Plant biotechnology is an extension of this traditional plant breeding with one very important difference – plant biotechnology allows for the transfer of a greater variety of genetic information in a more precise, controlled manner. Unlike traditional plant breeding, which involves the crossing of hundreds or thousands of genes, plant biotechnology allows for the transfer of only one or a few desirable genes. This more precise science allows plant breeders to develop crops with specific beneficial traits and without undesirable traits. Many of these beneficial traits in new plant varieties fight plant pests – insects, disease and weeds – that can be devastating to crops. Others provide quality improvements, such as tastier fruits and vegetables; processing advantages, such as tomatoes with higher solids content; and nutrition enhancements, such as oil seeds that produce oils with lower saturated fat content. Crop improvements like these can help provide an abundant, healthful food supply and protect our environment for future generations.

Tens of thousands of years ago people wandered the earth, collecting and eating only what they found growing in nature. By about 8000 BC, however, the first farmers decided to stay in one place and grow certain plants as crops – creating agriculture and civilization, in that order.

1.1. 12.1.1. Thousands of years ago

People first learn to use bacteria to make new and different foods, and to employ yeast and fermentation processes to make wine, beer and leavened bread.

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The European Union approves the importation and use of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready soya beans in foods for people and feed for animals. These are beans genetically modified to tolerate spraying of Roundup for weed control while the beans are growing.

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2. 12.2. How biotechnology works?

Many people are beginning to appreciate more deeply the bonds between human well-being, social stability and the natural processes of earth that sustain all life. They are realising that the earth's capacity to continue providing clean air and water, productive soils and a rich diversity of plant and animal life is central to ensuring quality of life for ourselves and our descendants. But current population growth is already straining the earth's resources. One of the few certainties of the future is that the world’s population will grow reach 9 billion inhabitants by the year 2050. Humanity must respond to the growing pressures on the earth’s natural resources to feed more people.

Biotechnology, which allows the transfer of a gene for a specific trait from one plant variety or species to another, is one important piece of the puzzle of sustainable development. Experts assert that biotechnology innovations will triple crop yields without requiring any additional farmland, saving valuable rain forests and animal habitats. Other innovations can reduce or eliminate reliance on pesticides and herbicides that may contribute to environmental degradation. Still others will preserve precious groundsoils and water resources. Most experts agree that the world doesn’t have the luxury of waiting to act. By working now to put in place the technology and the infrastructure required to meet future food needs, we can feed the world for centuries to come and improve the quality of life for people worldwide.

The current debate in Europe and the United States over genetically modified crops mostly ignores the concerns and needs of the developing world. Western consumers who do not face food shortages or nutritional deficiencies or work in fields are more likely to focus on food safety and the potential loss of biodiversity, while farming communities in developing countries are more likely to focus on potentially higher yields and greater nutritional value, and on the reduced need to spray pesticides that can damage soil and sicken farmers.

3. 12.3. Why biotechnology matters?

The benefits of biotechnology, today and in the future, are nearly limitless. Plant biotechnology offers the potential to produce crops that not only taste better but are also healthier. Agronomic or “input” traits create value by giving plants the ability to do things that increase production or reduce the need for other inputs such as chemical pesticides or fertilisers. Current products with input traits include potatoes, corn and soybeans that produce better yields with fewer costly inputs through better control of pests and weeds. Already, farmers in Romania are growing potatoes that use 40% less chemical insecticides than would be possible using traditional techniques.

Quality traits – or “output” traits – help create value for consumers by enhancing the quality of the food and fibre produced by the plant. Likely future offerings include potatoes that will absorb less oil when fried, corn and soybeans with increased protein content, tomatoes with a fresher flavour and corn and sweet potatoes that contain high levels of amino acids, such as lysine. Someday, seeds will become the ultimate energy-efficient, environmentally friendly production facilities that can manufacture products which are today made from non-renewable resources. An oilseed rape plant, for example, could serve as a factory to add beta carotene to canola oil to alleviate the nutritional deficiency that causes night blindness. The worldwide area under commercially grown genetically modified (GM) crops has been rapidly increasing since they were first introduced in 1996. An environmentally sustainable and more specific method of controlling insect pests than conventional insecticides (Figure 1). The use of Bt. technology reduces and in some instances can even avoid the need for insecticides.

12.1. ábra - Figure 1: Bt Cotton lifecycle

4. 12.4. Why do we need biotechnology?

Demand for food is increasing dramatically as the world’s population grows. Biotechnology provides us with a way of meeting this growing demand without placing even greater pressure on our scarce resources. It allows us to grow better quality crops with higher yields while at the same time sustaining and protecting the environment. It can also help to improve the nutritional value of the crops which are grown.

5. 12.5. What is genetic modification?

Genetic modification is an accurate and effective way of achieving more desirable characteristics in plants without the trial and error of traditional methods of selective breeding. For centuries farmers and gardeners have attempted to alter and improve the plants they grow. In the past this was done by crossbreeding one plant or flower with another in the hope of producing a plant with particular qualities such as a larger flower or a sweeter fruit. The processes used in the past attempted to bring about changes in plants by combining all the characteristics of one plant with those of another. But as our understanding of plant life has grown, scientists have found ways of speeding up this process and making it more precise and reliable. It is now possible to identify exactly which genes are responsible for which traits. Using this information, scientists can make small and specific changes to a plant without affecting it in other ways. An example of this is a potato which has been genetically modified to give it a built-in resistance to the Colorado beetle, which can destroy potato crops, thus reducing the need for chemical pesticides.

6. 12.6. What sort of changes can be brought about by genetic modification?

Plants can be modified to bring about many types of changes which can be of benefit to the consumers, the food industry, farmers and people in the developing world. Genetic modification can also contribute towards a more sustainable form of agriculture and bring environmental benefits. Fruit and vegetables can be modified to improve their taste and appearance. This means being able to provide consumers with the consistently high quality fresh produce they demand. Improvements can be made to the nutritional qualities of certain plants. For example, oil seed, from which some cooking oils are made, can be developed so that the oil has reduced saturated fat content.

Products can be modified in ways which will make it easier and cheaper to process them. For example, the modification of tomatoes to delay ripening has led to cheaper tomato puree.

Plants can be modified to increase their ability to fight insects, disease and weeds, all of which can destroy or seriously damage crops. This not only increases the yield of these crops, but also reduces the need for pesticides. Plants can be modified to be resistant to drought or to grow in difficult conditions. This will have many benefits for parts of the world where the demand for food is increasing significantly and there is not enough good arable land.

7. 12.7. How can we assure that these new developments are safe?

It is important that consumers feel confident about the food they buy. Modern biotechnology is therefore subject to strict controls. These are designed to ensure that new genetically modified products are safe to eat and that they pose no new risks to the environment. European legislation on novel foods is implemented in the UK by a strict regulatory process involving a number of different committees, each composed of independent experts. Many of these people are scientists but the committees also include individuals who are primarily concerned with ethical and consumer issues.

8. 12.8. How do we know that genetically modified crops are safe to eat?

Before any GM crops can be sown, or food produced from GM crops can be sold, they must go through a rigorous approval process, involving several expert committees. In order to ensure transparency and accountability, the proceedings of all of these committees are available to the public, and they also hold public meetings.

9. 12.9. What about the impact of genetically modified crops on the environment?

Genetically modified organisms may not be released into the environment without approval. Approval to grow the crops commercially will not be given until the trials have been completed and the regulators are satisfied. In Canada and the USA, genetically modified crops are now grown extensively after the regulatory authorities there concluded that there was no threat to the environment.

10. 12.10. Could the new genes in these crops to be passed on the other plants?

The question of the transfer of genes from genetically modified crops to other plants is considered carefully by the regulators. They have accepted that there is no greater risk of this happening than exists with the conventional crops grown at present.

11. 12.11. What about consumer information?

Labelling helps consumers decide what they buy. Decisions about the labelling of foods containing ingredients from genetically modified crops are made by the European Union, began labelling many of these foods voluntarily in November 1997. In order to help improve public understanding of modern biotechnology and genetic modification, the food industry is working to keep consumers better informed. Public information is a priority.

12. 12.13. Substantial equivalence of genetically engineered crops and products with their conventional counterparts

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) routinely and stringently used the “Principle of Substantial Equivalence” (PSE) for decades to assure the public of the safety of foods and drugs marketed in the US. PSE refers only to the product and not the process of its production. On account of the high standards of FDA’s regulatory oversight, most other countries generally approve drugs and pharmaceuticals on the basis of FDA’s approval. In the context of modern agricultural biotechnology, antitech activists have repeatedly made PSE an issue of serious concern. Efforts are made in every country to demonstrate that a genetically engineered (GE) variety (transgenic) and its products are “substantially equivalent” (SE) to its conventional variety (isogenic) and its products, but for the new genes (transgenes) in the transgenic variety and the consequent expected products of the transgenes. Once SE is established, the FDA requires no further regulatory review.

Labelling GE products is not mandatory in the US, but there are persistent demands for labelling in several other parts of the world. This leads to considerable confusion and controversies, more so if PSE has to be applied to all products of GE, including livestock feed, and worse if SE has to be established for different transgenic varieties of the same crop with the same transgene, as demanded by some activist groups.

In the application of PSE, the comparison should only be between the GE variety and its isogenic, which is the basic variety into which a new gene was inserted, but not any and every variety of the same crop. The certification is to the effect that the GE crop variety is substantially equivalent to its isogenic, in genotype, marked characteristics and performance, but for the transgenes and their anticipated products and characteristics. If the isogenic were safe, the transgenic would be equally safe, provided that the newly introduced transgenes do not exercise any adverse effects by themselves or through altering the expression of any other genes of the isogenic in the new status which may happen very very rarely. Such an assurance requires scientific evaluation of the crop variety and its products, which involves additional effort, time and expense that escalate consumer costs.

The US practice of agricultural biotechnology companies voluntarily submitting detailed dossiers on the safety and risk analysis of the GEOs and their products, developed by them before they are marketed should be global, although the activists look down upon data provided by the product developers themselves, even when gathered by different recognized laboratories outside the companies. When testing standards and procedures in different countries were reasonably uniform, what is considered safe in one country should also be considered so in the other countries? This will eliminate the need for repeating the same and every test in every country, saving time and expense.

At no time, transgenics can be wholly SE to their isogenics in their entire genotypes and this is not related to transgenic technology. Even to start with, members of the same population are not entirely genetically identical. In addition, mutations occur naturally and randomly, involving different genes. Lethal mutations are naturally eliminated. Mutations of the genes of the desired characteristics are eliminated in the process of selection, but those that do not affect the desired characteristics escape attention and accumulate. After a certain number of generations, a critical genetic analysis will contravene SE, although SE can be established for the genes of the desired characteristics. Such a situation would cause problems in some countries, where the regulatory authorities apply the principle of SE more in letter than in spirit, and a lot more strictly than in other countries.

The official consensus of the European Union (EU) is that, SE should only be used to inform of basic safety assessments and so GE products require further confirmatory analysis by sophisticated methods. The EU safety regulations, based on this premise, are so stringent that they raised doubts whether any GE product will at all qualify to be considered safe. The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) is the international organization established in 1963, jointly by the FAO and WHO, under the Food Standards Programme to set international guidelines for food standards and safety. Comprised of 165 member countries, the CAC sees SE as a starting point in the regulatory process rather than as the end point. Notwithstanding the importance given to PSE, it has been criticized as vague, ill defined, flexible, malleable, open to interpretation, unscientific and arbitrary.

In the debate on SE it is often held that,  the focus of SE has been well known nutritionally significant components, occurring in significant quantities, the studies employed routine food safety testing methods which are not sensitive enough to detect all components and are not detailed total critical analyses, that more sophisticated and deep analytical approaches may reveal chemical compounds hither to unexpected and unknown, which may make the GE products unsafe for human consumption, and in the US, SE data were generated not by independent entities but by the product developers themselves (and so suspect) and largely remained in the private domain, not easy for others to access for evaluation.

Some activists groups demand sophisticated and complex procedures to establish SE, but such procedures entail time and money escalating consumer costs and so cannot be routine methods of establishing SE. They should be used only if there was justification, perceived from standard analyses, to go for more intensive methods. There is a dire need for a uniform and harmonized international policy on SE. On account of the concerns raised, the PSE should be re-examined, for re-defining its applicability to GE crop plants and their products, laying emphasis on a reasonable application of the principle, addressing only those genes and their products that are relevant to the objectives of developing a particular transgenic variety or product. At the moment, there is no evidence that SE is an issue that adversely affects the safety of GE crops or their products as food and feed.

13. Questions

1. Challenges for agriculture?

2. Green Revolution: promises and constraints?

3. The role of biotechnology in food security and non-food crop (bio-chemicals) production?

4. The GM controversy in Europe?

5. Actions needed?

14. References

Claire Halpin, C. (2005): Gene stacking in transgenic plants – the challenge for 21st century plant biotechnology. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7652.2004.00113.x, Plant Biotechnology Journal, Volume 3, Issue 2, pp. 141-155.

David Edwards, D. and Batley, J. (2010): Plant genome sequencing: applications for crop improvement. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7652.2009.00459.x, Plant Biotechnology Journal, Volume 8, Issue 1, pp. 2-9.

Baker, J. M., Hawkins, N. D., Ward, J. L., Lovegrove, A., Napier, J. A., Shewry, P.R. and Beale, M. H. (2006): A metabolomic study of substantial equivalence of field-grown genetically modified wheat. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7652.2006.00197.x, Plant Biotechnology Journal, Volume 4, Issue 4, pp. 381-392.

Schaart, J. G., Krens, F. A., Pelgrom, K. T. B., Mendes, O and Rouwendal, G. J. A. (2004): Effective production of marker-free transgenic strawberry plants using inducible site-specific recombination and a bifunctional selectable marker gene. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7652.2004.00067.x.Plant Biotechnology Journal, Volume 2, Issue 3, pp. 233-240.

1. Introduction

The produce of GM plants and its derivatives (whether or not mixed with non-GM stocks) account for, year on year, a greater volume of international trade and constitute an increasing share of the world’s feed and food chains. The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) estimated that in 2011 in 29 countries worldwide representing 60% of world’s population some 17 million farmers planted commercialised GM varieties. More than half the world’s population, 60% or around 4 billion people, live in the 29 countries planting biotech crops. The global area planted to GM crop varieties amounted to 160 million hectares which represented 10-11% of global cropland.

2. 13.1. Global status of commercialised GM crops in 2011

Since 1996, when the first GM soybean was harvested, biotechnology and its adaptations by the food industry have become one of the most controversial and most disputed topics. However, the adoption of GM crops is occurring at a rapid pace. The global area planted to GM crops in 1996 was approximately 1.7 million hectares. GM crop production has increased each year since then, with an estimated 160 million hectares of GM crops planted in 2011. The United States is the leading producer of GM crops accounting for 69 million hectares of the total GM crop area. Brazil is second, producing GM crops on 30 million hectares. Argentina had about 24 million, India and Canada over 10 million hectares of GMO area in 2011 (Table 1).

13.1. táblázat - Table 1: Area of GM crops by country (2011) Million hectares