GENETIC ENGINEERING offers opportunities to develop new products in many different fields, including agriculture. Most of the developments in agriculture, however, have been of greater benefit to producers than to consumers.
The best-known application is the 'Roundup Ready' crops where a gene has been incorporated into corn, soybeans, canola and cotton that confer resistance to the herbicide Roundup. As a result, the farmer is better able to control weeds since Roundup can be sprayed at any stage of development of the crop without injury. Other examples include the 'Bt' corn, cotton and potatoes. These plants have been transformed to produce a natural insecticide that kills insects following feeding. The trait was transferred from a bacterium. It is purported that with the use of these plants, the need for spraying against insect pests is much reduced.
CONSUMER BENEFITS
More recent developments promise tangible benefits to the consumer and include potatoes that contain less starch, fruits and vegetables with more nutrients (proteins, vitamins and minerals, or less of the bad oils), and peanuts with reduced levels of allergens. Furthermore, the technology is being applied to food crops (such as rice, cassava and papaya) that are of greater interest to developing countries.
No doubt, developing countries would benefit from increased productivity. Crop yields are significantly lower in tropical regions than in developed countries and are directly a result of losses due to pests, diseases, and soil problems, all exacerbated by climatic conditions and, in some instances, there is the lack of economic resources for insecticides, fertilisers and high quality seeds. However, most developing countries do not have sufficient resources to implement the GE capacity needed to solve the major problems that limit productivity or the resources to establish regulations and procedures to ensure the safety of the products.
CONSEQUENCES UNCERTAIN
Although direct transfer of the end products (seed) to national breeding programmes has been purported as the most effective short-term strategy for implementation in developing countries, many believe that the consequences of introducing GM crops and impact on the environment, nutrition and biodiversity, especially in tropical regions (the rich centres of biodiversity) are still uncertain.
Moreover, contrary to the myth of modern agriculture, small farmers working with natural biodiversity can be as productive as industrial monocultures. The Mayan peasants in the Chiapas are an example, and small farmers in India grow many different types of rice that suit their specific needs and location.
One could argue that the funds used in the development of the GM golden rice would have been better used in educating the public about vitamins and the importance of a varied diet, given that nature provides vitamin A in abundance in many native plants.
The role of diversity and a healthy variety of food should not be ignored in preventing drought and desertification. No one technology, including GM, will get rid of world hunger. In addition, GM crops are likely to have an effect on developing countries' competitiveness and access to western markets.
