Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
(the leading trait thus far), and of pest resistance (achieved through the insertion of Bt).
Herbicide tolerance (HT) means that a weed-killing chemical, such as the broad spec-
trum glysophate of Monsanto's well-known RoundUp (though this has been off-patent for
some time and is now available in India and elsewhere as a generic) can be applied without
fear of killing the crop; Bt, as we have explained, is a natural pesticide. Thus far, four crops
account for almost all the transgenics that have entered into production, though experi-
mental work has gone on with many more: HT soy accounts for about 50 percent of the
total area across the world under transgenics; HT and Bt maize for 31 percent of this area;
Bt cotton for 14 percent; and HT canola for 5 percent (James 2010). It is striking that these
are crops used for fiber (cotton), processed oils and starches (soy and canola), and animal
feeds (yellow maize), rather than being staple food crops (though note our earlier qualifi-
cation that Bt, certainly, has entered the food chain, while soy is contained in much that is
eaten by people, especially in North America). The only transgenic staple to have received
official state approval for commercialization and to be widely cultivated is white maize,
grown in South Africa; a fact that reflects the considerable anxiety that surrounds the idea
of “GM food” and the extent of popular resistance to it, in Europe in particular. But it is
also important to note the rise in use of pirated or “stealth” seeds for producing transgenic
staples—such as Bt rice in China and Vietnam—that small farmers find desirable despite
the legal and economic risks associated with the contraband germplasm.
The most important trait that has been engineered—herbicide tolerance—is of value
to large-scale commercial producers, who have been the main beneficiaries of the very
limited portfolio of transgenic seed crop traits. HT may not be of value to small farm-
ers in poor countries where labor is cheap (though, increasingly, not always available
to farmers). Pest resistance, however, is certainly of value to such farmers, as the rapid
spread of Bt cotton among small producers in China, India, and Pakistan has demon-
strated. Protagonists of genetic engineering in agriculture point, however, to the poten-
tial of the technology for developing other traits that will be of considerable benefit to
small farmers in poor countries, and ultimately to consumers as well—for whom they
will mean lower food prices (see Lipton 2007, Pray and Naseem 2007). The most impor-
tant trait that might be engineered is that of higher yield, not yet certainly realized in
food staples, but clearly important in a context in which, for the first time since the
Green Revolution, crop yields globally are growing more slowly than population, for
even though population growth has slowed to around 1.4 percent per annum the yields
of both wheat and rice are now almost flat (“The 9 Billion-People Question” 2011). Then
there is a potential for enhancing nutrition and health—as has been claimed in regard
to “Golden Rice,” a transgenic variety of rice that can enhance intakes of vitamin A and
protect children against blindness (Bouis 2007; Stein, this volume). Other important
traits that might be developed include drought tolerance, making for water saving—a
trait which is of great importance in the context of increasing water scarcity in much of
the world—and resistance to salinity, which would have the effect of permitting cultiva-
tion again in the large areas of formerly cultivated land that have been subject to salini-
zation.1 Genetic engineering has the virtues—it is argued—by comparison with other
types of plant breeding, both of speeding up development and of being more controlled
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