{"id":17318,"date":"2023-09-18T17:49:03","date_gmt":"2023-09-18T12:19:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/current_affairs\/?p=17318"},"modified":"2023-09-18T17:49:50","modified_gmt":"2023-09-18T12:19:50","slug":"a-gm-crop-decision-that-cuts-the-mustard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/editorial-analysis\/18-09-2023\/a-gm-crop-decision-that-cuts-the-mustard","title":{"rendered":"A GM Crop Decision that Cuts the Mustard\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: <\/strong><strong>GS3\/ Agriculture, Bio-technology<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">In News<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The<strong> environmental release of DMH-11,<\/strong> a genetically modified hybrid variety of mustard, marks the beginning of a new era in self-reliance and sustainability in agriculture.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Worldwide Adoption of GM Crops<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>According to a report by the <strong>International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) <\/strong>2020, a total of<strong> 72 countries <\/strong>have adopted GM crops <strong>either as human food or animal feed<\/strong>, as well as for <strong>commercial cultivation&nbsp;<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>56% of the global GM crop area is in developing countries compared to 44% in industrial countries.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>GM crops have <strong>benefited more than 1.95 billion people <\/strong>in five countries (<strong>Argentina, Brazil, Canada, India and the United States<\/strong>) or 26% of the current world population of 7.6 billion.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Bt cotton<\/strong> was commercialised as the<strong> first GM crop in India <\/strong>more than 20 years ago, and has been viewed globally as a great success story in terms of economic advantage to farmers and to the nation.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Globally, genetic modification has expanded its reach, beyond the major four crops, <strong>maize, soybean, cotton and canola<\/strong>, to other economically important food crops for various traits such as<strong> insect and herbicide resistance, climate resilience and nutritional quality improvement<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>GM food crops, since adoption in 1996 globally have been <strong>proven for their biosafety<\/strong> for the last 25 years and more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Genetically Modified Crops<\/strong><br><\/span>&#8211; A Genetically Modified Organism <strong>(GMO)<\/strong> is<strong> any living organism<\/strong> whose genetic material has been modified to include certain desirable techniques.\u00a0<br>&#8211; Genetic modification has previously been used for the<strong> large-scale production <\/strong>of insulin, vaccines, and more.<br>In crops, genetic modification involves the<strong> manipulation of DNA <\/strong>instead of using<strong> controlled pollination<\/strong>\u2014 the conventional method to improve crops\u2014 to alter certain characteristics of the crop.<br><br><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Advantages<\/span><\/strong><br>&#8211; It is useful in controlling the occurrence of certain diseases.<br>&#8211; It <strong>grows faster<\/strong> than the foods that are grown traditionally. Probably because of this, the increased productivity <strong>provides the population with more food<\/strong>.\u00a0<br>&#8211; At times, genetically engineered food crops can be grown at<strong> places with unfavourable climatic conditions <\/strong>too.<br>&#8211; It is reported to be <strong>high in nutrients<\/strong> and contain <strong>more minerals and vitamins <\/strong>than those found in traditionally grown food.<br><br><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Disadvantages<\/strong><br><\/span>&#8211; I<strong>t may have harmful effects<\/strong> on the human body.\u00a0<br>&#8211; It is believed that consumption of these genetically engineered foods<strong> can cause the development of diseases<\/strong> which may be <strong>immune to antibiotics<\/strong>.<br>&#8211; This cross-pollination method can cause <strong>damage to other organisms <\/strong>that thrive in the environment.<br>&#8211; The technology could be <strong>carcinogenic<\/strong>.\u00a0<br>1. It is a killer technology that kills soil, microbes, pollinators, almost all medicinal herbs and adversely affects crop diversity. It may also cause cancer in humans.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Challenges of India\u2019s Edible Oil Production<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Low yield of Mustard: <\/strong>Mustard is one of the most important edible oil crops in India; however, its per hectare yield is very low when compared to the global average.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Thus, increasing the productivity of mustard in the country is vital for the economic well-being of farmers and self-sufficiency in edible oil production.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>India\u2019s edible oil deficit &amp; imports: <\/strong>India faces a major deficit in edible oils, with 60% of its demand being met by imports.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The domestic consumption of edible oils is around 25 million tonnes, while the domestic production of mustard oil was approximately 8.5 million tonnes in the year 2020-21.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India\u2019s edible oil imports were approximately 13 million tonnes, which touched \u20b91.17 lakh crore in value terms.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">GM Mustard<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Dhara Mustard Hybrid: <\/strong>Using genetic engineering, extensive research has been carried out at the <strong>Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGMCP)<\/strong>, University of Delhi South Campus, to create a<strong> GM Dhara Mustard Hybrid -11 (DMH-11)<\/strong> with higher vigour and yield \u2014 this will facilitate an increase in domestic production of edible oils as well as enhanced farm incomes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Government\u2019s approval: <\/strong>In October 2022, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, made a landmark decision of approving the release of DMH-11 and its parental line for cultivation.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Significance:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This will help boost the <strong>vibrant genetic engineering research sector<\/strong> in the country and enable the generation of new crop varieties with improved traits.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This advancement will benefit farmers by <strong>increasing yield per hectar<\/strong>e.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cultivation of these GM mustard hybrids developed indigenously could help <strong>enhance farmers\u2019 income<\/strong>, <strong>reduce the oil-import burden<\/strong> and help achieve much-needed <strong>self-reliance in edible oil production<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Way Ahead<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The environmental release of DMH-11 marks the beginning of a new era in self-reliance and sustainability in agriculture.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>More improved GM food crops are needed to boost the profitability of Indian farmers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>According to the global Food Security and Nutrition Report, 2019, it is difficult to achieve the \u2018Zero Hunger\u2019 target by 2030.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The adoption of <strong>science-based technologies for crop improvement<\/strong> such as genetic engineering for developing genetically modified (GM) crops <strong>as a supplement to conventional breeding methods <\/strong>has become an absolute necessity to address the challenge of achieving<strong> global food and nutritional security <\/strong>under the fast-changing climate.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Daily Mains Question<\/strong><br><\/span><strong>[Q] <\/strong>What is the significance of Genetically Modified crops for self-reliance and sustainability in agriculture? Examine the challenges.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Syllabus: GS3\/ Agriculture, Bio-technology In News Worldwide Adoption of GM Crops Genetically Modified Crops&#8211; A Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) is any living organism whose genetic material has been modified to include certain desirable techniques.\u00a0&#8211; Genetic modification has previously been used for the large-scale production of insulin, vaccines, and more.In crops, genetic modification involves the manipulation [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial-analysis"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17318"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17320,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17318\/revisions\/17320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}