Adopt old and new means of food production – to optimize production

Food shortages are rearing its ugly face across the globe. Meanwhile there is a dilemma as to the way forward. Charles Benoni Okine writes 

A former head of the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Professor Walter S. Alhassan, has called for a crop improvement strategy that integrates the best of the old (conventional) and the best of the new (biotech) to optimize food productivity in the country and on the continent in general.

The move, according to him, is intended to contribute to food, feed and fibre security while addressing climate change.

Professor Alhassan, representing the Forum for Agriculture Research in Africa (FARA) Headquarters in Ghana, made the call at the launch of the Global Status of Commercialised Biotech/GN Crops: 2012 by the International Service for the Acquisition of AGRI-BIOTECH Applications (ISAAA) in Accra.

The call comes at a time when the world is looking for means to increase food production to meet the bloating population of the world.

Due to the use of arable land for plant production for the cultivation of biofuels and construction among other things, food production has almost remained static or reducing as compared to the growing population all over the world.

In Europe and America for instance, there has been the adoption of other means such as biotechnology to improve yields and that method of crop production is being pushed to Africa for adoption.

Many a farmer in Africa have been reluctant to adapt to the new system perhaps, because of some misconceptions and the fact that, some Europeans and Americans as said to be turning to Africa to buy organic foods because of the natural nature.

Biotechnology is any technique that uses living organisms or substances from these organisms to make or modify a product for a practical purpose. Biotechnology can be applied to all classes of organism - from viruses and bacteria to plants and animals - and it is becoming a major feature of modern medicine, agriculture and industry.

It is also being used to address problems in all areas of agricultural production and processing.

This includes plant breeding to raise and stabilize yields; to improve resistance to pests, diseases and abiotic stresses such as drought and cold; and to enhance the nutritional content of foods.

Biotechnology is being used to develop low-cost disease-free planting materials for crops such as cassava, banana and potato and is creating new tools for the diagnosis and treatment of plant and animal diseases and for the measurement and conservation of genetic resources.

Role and impact of biotechnology in modern agriculture.

Biotechnology offers prospects in addressing problems concerned with agricultural productivity and environmental safety.  In order to cope up with the ever increasing population of the current world, biotechnological intervention to supplement conventional plant breeding efforts is indispensable. 

Some of the issues that can be addressed using biotechnological techniques are crop production of superior quality, mass production of uniform planting materials, compensate land shortages and genetic improvement of the plant.

A few of the advantages perceived in the use of biotechnology in agriculture are rapid multiplication of plant species, breeding of resistant varieties, diagnosis and control of disease in crop and livestock, utilization of crop residues and animal waste. 

Some of the disadvantages are high cost of research and development, endangering biodiversity, genetic erosion and lack of access for poor farmers to use new varieties. 

Thus, in introducing biotechnology in agriculture, it is vitally important to study and assess the overall circumstances, such as cost effectiveness and impact on environment.

Agriculture is of primary importance in the National Development Program.  Biotechnology, as a new frontier in agricultural sciences, has opened new avenues for the solution of agricultural problems.  The application of biotechnology in agriculture offers many possibilities for filling the gaps found in conventional research methods and is therefore, not intended to replace all conventional methods, but to provide a more reliable approach in achieving economic gains. 

Many new tools are now available, particularly from research in the areas of molecular biology, genetic engineering, and cell and tissue culture as well as from intensive application of microbial technology. 

Way Forward

It is clear that the world is hungry and getting even hungrier. It is anticipated that should the trend continue, it will become worse in the future, an assertion many experts agree to.

There are many movements across the world which is advocating the massive use of biotech in agriculture to boost production while movements are also vehemently against.

In Africa, it is clear that those against the adoption of the new technologies in agriculture are winning because many a farmer resists the new technology for varied reasons including the fact that, biotech changes the natural nature of crops.But they seem to forget, or are completely ignorant about the evolution of crops in the last 10,000 years which has enabled the world to see what is available today.

It is against this background that Professor Alhassan made it categorically clear that “conventional crop improvements alone will not double crop production by 2050 – GM/Biotech crops are also not a panacea but essential”.

According to him, a successful strategy must have multiple thrusts that include; population stabilization; improved food distribution systems and less wastage; technology component which means that a crop improvement strategy that integrates the conventional and biotech means of production must be adopted.