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
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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.
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3. Agricultural Biotechnology:
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2-genetic-engineering.htm

4. Agricultural Biotechnology:
When the bacterium infects the plant,
it penetrates the plant 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.
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2-genetic-engineering.htm

5. Agricultural Biotechnology:
Bt toxin bred GM crop
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a common soil bacterium.
It produces chemicals that are toxic to certain insects (larvae of moths and butterflies, beetles and flies).
The gene coding for Bt toxin has been inserted into cotton and corn.
Bt-cotton and Bt-corn produce Bt toxin in all tissues of the plant.
No application of any pesticide is required to protect the Bt-crops from a large number of pests.
Bt-cotton is ineffective against many cotton pests (plant bugs, stink bugs, and aphids) requiring the use insecticides against these.
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton

6. Agricultural Biotechnology:
Bt toxin bred GM crop
Heavy rain;
Wet conditions favour bollworm)
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7. Agricultural Biotechnology:
Bt toxin bred GM crop
Monsanto has reported to the regulator, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), the following:
“Pink bollworm has developed resistance to GM cotton variety (Bollgard I) in Gujarat’”
This was detected by the company during field monitoring in the 2009 cotton season.
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8. Agricultural Biotechnology:
Bt toxin bred GM crop
Monsanto said: "Resistance is natural and expected.“
Monsanto blamed pink bollworm resistance to Cry1Ac protein in Gujarat to
"early use of unapproved Bt cotton seeds" by farmers and
"limited refuge planting".
(Farmers are supposed to maintain a distance between Bt cotton farms and other farms as a "refuge".)
Monsanto also advised farmers the following:
to take up "need-based application of insecticide sprays"
"properly manage crop residue and unopened bolls after harvest".
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9. Agricultural Biotechnology:
Bt toxin bred GM crop
root worm (called root borer) commonly chewed the corn root tendrils right where they enter the soil surface.
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10. Agricultural Biotechnology:
Bt toxin bred GM crop
Expansion of corn and soybean acreage resulted from
- a reduction in cotton acreage,
- a shift from uncultivated hay to cropland, and
- the expansion of double cropping (consecutively producing two crops on the same land within the same year).
Continuous exposure to Bt on a large portion of all prime US farm land has created Bt resistance in corn borers.
Iowa State University confirmed field-evolved resistance by root worm to the Cry3Bb1 protein in an Iowa study.
University of Illinois observed severe root damage in Bt corn in northwestern Illinois
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11. Agricultural Biotechnology:
Bt toxin bred GM crop
Tips on how to respond to the resistance suggested a long-term integrated approach to corn rootworm management:
- adult suppression programs
- use of soil insecticides at planting
- rotation of Bt hybrids that express different Cry proteins
- and rotation to non-host crops.
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12. Agricultural Biotechnology:
Bt toxin bred GM crop
Plants producing Bt toxin are releases toxin in pollen.
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13. Agricultural Biotechnology:
Common GM food:
Vegetables
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Rice
Cheese
Meat
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14. Agricultural Biotechnology:
Rice- not high in essential nutrients
Modification:
+ daffodil genes and a bacterium = beta-carotene content drastically increased
+ genes from a french bean = double the iron content.
Tomatoes- Introduce genes to increase shelf life.
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15. Agricultural Biotechnology: Increased crop productivity
Crop productivity could be increased by introducing 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.
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16. 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.
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17. 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.
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18. 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.
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19. 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.
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20. 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.
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21. 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.
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22. 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.
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23. 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 plant’s ability to “escape” into the wild and produce ecological imbalances or disasters.
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24. 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.
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25. 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.
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26. 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.
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27. 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
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28. 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
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Source:
genetically_modified_soy_in_russia.php

29. 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
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30. 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
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31. Agricultural Biotechnology:
The Rio declaration:
In order to protect the environment, the precautionary
approach should be widely applied by States according to
their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or
irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not
be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures
to prevent environmental degradation.
(RioDEC, 1992)
Rat babies of same age
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32. When a course of action might have a potentially serious impact, one approach is to adopt the precautionary principle.
Rather than assuming something is safe until proven otherwise, the precautionary principle argues the opposite – that something should be considered potentially harmful unless shown to be safe.
While the precautionary principle aims to protect us against possible dangers, an excessively 'safety-first' approach may have its own drawbacks.
Rat babies of same age
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33. Agricultural Biotechnology:
The Bergen declaration:
In order to achieve sustainable development, policies must be based on the Precautionary Principle (environmental measures must anticipate, prevent, and attack the causes of environmental degradation).
Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of scientific uncertainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation.
(Cameron and Abouchar, 1991)
Rat babies of same age
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34. Sustainable Agriculture
is an integrated system of plant and animal production practices…that 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
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35. Sustainable Agriculture
All sustainable agricultural production
systems and practices are
economically viable,
environmentally sound,
and socially acceptable.
General definition
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36. 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
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37. Sustainable Agriculture environmentally sound
preserves the quality of soil, water, and air
cooperates with and is modeled on
natural systems
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38. socially acceptable Sustainable Agriculture good for families
supports communities
fair to all involved
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39. 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
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Source: M. Ganguly, Seeds of Self-Reliance. Time, Sept 02, 2002: p71.

40. 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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