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Basic scientific concepts of biotechnology: historical perspective and development of modern biotechnology
Vibha DhawanVice Chancellor
TERI School of Advanced Studies6th February 2005
Food problems have haunted mankind since time immemorial
• Expanding the cultivated area• Technological Breakthroughs
• 1967: Report of the US President’s
Science Advisory Committee
concluded that the “scale, severity
and duration of the world food
problem are so great that a
massive, long-range, innovative
effort unprecedented in human
history will be required to master it”
• The Rockefeller and Ford Foundations
took the lead in establishing an
international agriculture research
system to help, transfer and adapt
scientific advances to the conditions in
developing countries
• The first investments were in rice and
wheat
• The breeding of improved varieties,
combined with the expanded use of
fertilizers, other chemical inputs
and irrigation, led to dramatic yield
increases in Asia and Latin
America, beginning in the late 1960s
Technological Breakthroughs
• Modern plant breeding, improved agronomy, development of inorganic fertilizers & pesticides and expansion of irrigated areas helped in increasing crop productivity.
Example: Wheat
It took nearly 1,000 years for wheat yields to increase
from 0.5 to 2 metric tonnes per hectare, but only 40
years to climb from 2 to 6 metric tonnes per hectare
Green Revolution: Blessing or curse
• Focus on a few grain crops: wheat, rice, maize
• High inputs: fertilizers, pesticides
• High resource farmers: irrigated lands
• Crop yield: the major goal
Salient Features of Green Revolution
• Higher yields
• More responsive to plant nutrients
• Shorter and stiffer straw
• Early maturity
• Resistance to major pests and diseases
Social Impacts• Increased farm income • Stimulation of rural non-farm economy • Expansion of marketing services• Real per capita income almost doubled in Asia and
poverty declined from nearly three out of every five Asians in 1975 to less than one in three by 1995
• The absolute number of poor people declined from 1.15 billion in 1975 to 825 million in 1995 despite a 60% increase in population
Problems associated with the Green Revolution
• Environmental degradation
• Increased income inequality
• Inequitable asset distribution
• Decline in nutritional security
Some of the criticisms are valid and are still need to be addressed
• Excessive and inappropriate use of fertilizers and pesticides has polluted waterways, poisoned agricultural workers and killed beneficial insects and other wildlife
• Irrigation practices have led to salt build-up and thus abandonment of faming lands
• Ground water levels are retreating • Heavy dependence on few major cereal
varieties has led to loss of biodiversity on farms
Green Revolution: Criticism
Some of these outcomes were inevitable as
millions of farmers began to use modern
inputs for the first time but inadequate
extension and training and absence of
effective regulation of water quality, input
pricing and subsidy policies made modern
inputs too cheap and encouraged excessive
use creating negative environmental impact
Today there is a tendency to overstate the problem and to ignore the appropriate counterfactual situation
What would have been the magnitude of hungerand poverty without the yield increases of the Green Revolution and with the same population growth?
Often ignored is the positive impact of
higher yields that saved huge areas of
forests and environmentally fragile
lands that would have otherwise be
needed for farming
Stark Realities…..
• 800 million people cannot afford two course of meals
• About 30,000 people, half of them children, die every day due to hunger and malnutrition
• Nearly 1.2 billion people live on less than a dollar a day
“In the next 50 years, mankind will consume as much food as we have consumed since the beginning of agriculture 10,000 years ago - Clive James”
Problems with Agriculture in Developing Countries
• Green Revolution fatigue• Low productivity
– Small holdings– Subsistence– Mercy of monsoon– Limited water and land– Disease, pests, drought, weeds– Storage and transportation
Conventional plant improvement methods are reaching their limitsAgricultural growth is now 1%
compared to 3% in 1970s
Thus, technology must evolve and percolate to the end-user at a
much faster pace
“We must aim at an agricultural growth of 4% per year, if India has to achieve its ambition of overall economic growth rate of over 8 %
per annum”(Prime Minister’s Inaugural Speech at National Conference on Krishi Vigyan
Kendras in New Delhi. October 27, 2005)
The Prime Minister reemphasized in the India Economic Summit 2005
(23rd November 2005)
Though the Xth Plan assumed a growth rate of 4% for agricultural production, the reality was different…. the first 3 years we have not
been able to ensure 1.5% rate of growth…. We are focusing on technological breakthroughs for scaling up yields….
Modern genetic modification
Inserting one or few genes to achieve desired traits
Transfer of genes into crop plants– Relatively precise and predictable– Allows flexibility
Biotechnology can add value to global agriculture!
• Environmental impact - decreased use of pesticides
• Reduced losses from pests and diseases
• Improved nutritional efficiency• Improved productivity• Post harvest quality - prolong
shelf life of fruits, vegetables and flowers
• Stress tolerance - drought, acidity, salinity, temperature...
Why Biotechnology?• Knowledge-based approach • Offers unique solutions• Integrates technology delivery• Scale-neutral• Does not displace traditional methods• Environment-friendly• Portable - across crops• Versatile - impact on all facets of food chain
from producers to consumers
How biotechnology can help developing countries and resource-poor farmers?
• Improve food and nutritional security• Enhance production efficiency• Promote sustainable agriculture• Reduce environmental impact• Empower the rural sector through
income generation & reduce economic inequality
• Reduce crop damage & food loss
Constraints to biotechnology development and assimilation in developing countries
• Finance
• Technical capability• Infrastructure• Ambivalent policies• Trade issues
•Biosafety regulation•Intellectual property protection•Public perception
All Biotechnologies does not mean GM;
Traditional Biotechnologies offers no
resistance, yet not commercialised in
developing countries such as Tissue
Culture, Biopesticides, Biofertilizers
Traditional Biotechnologies – Gap Analysis
• Awareness about the potential benefits
• Extension mechanism
• Microfinancing
Micropropagation“Micropropagation” is a technique of regenerating clonally uniform plants under aseptic conditions
Stages of Micropropagation
Technologies: Micropropagation
Major Objectives: • Large-scale multiplication of superior clones of
various species using tissue culture • Mass propagation of species that are difficult to
regenerate by conventional methods• Transfer of proven technologies to the industry/
entrepreneurs• Impart training for large-scale production of
plants by tissue culture• To serve as a technology resource centre for
up-coming units
Micropropagation Technology Park (MTP)(Established in 1991 through DBT support)
Two Pronged Approach
A) With unknown active moleculesProspecting of plant diversity for new active molecules via bioassay mediated isolation of plant extracts
B) With known active molecules: e.g. Azadirachta indica, Glycerrhiza glabra, Withania etc.Prospecting of diversity for active ingredient in different plant varieties / accessions
Bioprospecting of Plant Diversity for Biomolecules
• Consortium product of AM and EM • Hyphal fusion based product• Cocktail of beneficial organisms• Specific product for wheat, pulse, rice
rotation• Mycorrhiza for Organic farming and its
package of practices for various plants
Mycorrhizal Research
Questions to Ponder
• Are we making adequate research investments?• Do we have long term research policies?• Implications of IPR on agriculture in developing
countries?• Do we need to invest on gene discovery or work on
borrowed genes?• Are our strategies geared up to meet global
challenges?
The challenge before us is to produce nutritious food for all
at affordable price