The world is awash with bio-engineering products as it is with criticisms of their health and environmental propensities. This is so, despite the many benefits that these technologies and their products have brought to agriculture among other things, by way of the reduction of the use of toxic chemicals and overall costs in both the developed and developing countries.

In most developed countries, regulations are in place that allow governments to make informed decisions in balancing potential benefits and potential risks of biotechnology products. But this is not the case in many developing countries

It is, therefore, of immediate importance that the facts concerning biotechnological applications are clarified for the benefit of decision-making in countries such as those in the Caribbean and Latin America, where food security and safety have become imminent quality of life issues.

Background

The growth of the world's population, changes in consumption patterns, reduction of arable land, climate change and environmental degradation, create immense challenges of producing 'more crops per hectare' and 'more crops per litre of water ', while using less pesticides and fertilisers and while causing less soil erosion. Although no single technology can solve these complex problems by itself, governments and international organisations have since 1992 repeatedly acknowledged that modern biotechnology can contribute significantly to finding solutions for these challenges. In addition, the emerging 'food versus fuel' debate on the use of agricultural commodities for industrial applications is placing increasing pressure on mechanisms for improving agricultural productivity.

The discovery in the late '70s of the genetic transformation of plants allows researchers to introduce new traits in plants with much greater precision and speed, and from a much greater genetic reservoir than is possible through conventional breeding. Following this discovery, research groups in the public and private sectors all over the world have embarked upon tens of thousands of research projects aimed at introducing into plants traits, such as pest and disease resistance, drought and salinity tolerance, nutritional enhancement, and changes in composition of components such as starch and fibre.

Because of the relative novelty of genetically modified organisms, safety regulations to control their use have been promulgated in many countries and on the international level (e.g. the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety). These biosafety regulations allow decision-makers to make informed regulatory decisions based on the scientific evaluation of the potential benefits and risks of the use of these methods.

The genetically modified (GM) crops currently available to farmers are primarily soy beans, maize, cotton and rapeseed, with introduced insect resistance and/or herbicide tolerance. In 2007, these crops were grown on over 100 million hectares by over 12 million small and large farmers in over 20 developed and developing countries. While the performance of these GM crops varies from case to case, the aggregated impact on farm level incomes amounts to billions of US dollars. The environmental benefits include a decrease of hundreds of millions of kilograms of pesticides, as well as significant reduction of soil erosion and fossil fuel use due to no-tilling farming practices, made possible by herbicide tolerant crops. In addition, the health and livelihoods of farmers, particularly in developing countries, have been improved through less exposure to toxic chemicals and the adoption of more environmentally benign chemicals.

Benefits

Apart from the fact that millions of acres and farmers have been involved in the planting of the first wave of genetically engineering crops, and consequently billions of dollars have been saved and earnings have increased substantially, research has continued apace and a number of revolutionary technologies have been developed and the anticipation of new markets heightened in the impending second wave of these technologies. Among these are resistance to biotic stress, e.g. to fungus resistance in black sikotoka in bananas and yams, virus resistance in cassava, papaya and tomato, and bacterial resistance in rice and potato. All these developments will be of immense usefulness to tropical farmers. Also tolerance to abiotic stress, such as drought and saline tolerance, opens up the possibility of reclaiming marginal lands. Work is also advanced in the enhancement of nutrition in GM foods, such as improved provitamin A, iron, zinc and vitamin E content, along with high-quality protein in conventional food crops. This opens the prospect of saving millions of lives and improved mental development, especially among children and women.

Yet, with all these benefits and after 13 years of large-scale commercial planting of GM crops, only four (corn, cotton, soya beans and rapeseeds) have been modified with two transgenes (herbicide and insect resistance), are available to farmers. This is largely due to the high levels of misunderstanding and misinformation that abound among decision-makers and politicians and great uncertainty among average citizens and farmers. Consequently, many field trials and market entry have been denied or delayed. This is so in the face of overwhelming scientific and practical evidence that the safety of these biotechnology products can be addressed adequately and that these technologies can advance production and productivity in a number of environments without harm.

Better understanding

For countries like Jamaica to fully gain from the vast potential of these methods to ensure food security and safety, a better understanding of the experiences with these technologies must be garnered, and how the varied regulations and regulatory systems are evolving. There is no doubt that both conventional and modern bio-technologies will be required if the world is to produce enough nutritious food to feed the increased population that is expected in the near future on the arable land that is available.

Because of the moment and importance of bio-regulations to agriculture and food prospects in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean region, the Mona Institute of Applied Sciences will be hosting a course on bio-regulations in February 2010. For more information, please contact Dr Arnoldo Ventura at 876-970-2042; 876-970-0289 (fax), and arnoldo.ventura@uwimona.edu.jm (email).

Because of the relative novelty of genetically modified organisms, safety regulations to control their use have been promulgated in many countries and on the international level