Seed is a critical and basic input for attaining sustained growth in agricultural production. Seed is carrier of new technology for crop production. Tissue culture techniques are being exploited to enhance crop production and to aid crop improvement efforts. Tissue cultured somatic tissues are now routinely being used for conservation of those species whose seeds are recalcitrant or ones which do not produce seed at all e.g. oil palm, mentha, roses, carnation etc. The plants developed but using genetic engineering technology are known as transgenic plants, now available in cotton, soyabean, maize, tomato, etc. the biotechnological approaches are more successful in dicotyledonous crops belonging in the genera Solanum Nicatiana, Petunia and Brasssica rather than in monocotyledonous crops like wheat, rice, maize, etc. In recent years, agricultural communities in the US, Argentina, Canada, Australia, Mexico, South Africa and China have adopted new plant varieties developed through modern technologies. These plant varieties are referred to as transgenic or genetically modified crops, examples include, herbicide-resistant plants generated by transforming them with a 'natural' bacteria enzyme, and insect resistant plant s created by the addition of genes for one of the proteins produced byt bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), a type of naturally occurring; soil bacterium that infects and kills insects. Several major crops plants, including corn, oilseed canola, soyabean and cotton, have been engineered with genes that make them resistant to insect pests or to herbicides. The benefits derived from these varieties include the reduced use of insecticides and herbicides, thus reducing soil and ground water pollution, and reducing tillage that results in topsoil loss. Many Indian seed companies are busy in taking trails for transferring genes from bacteria into the cells of vegetables and oilseeds like mustard, tomato, cabbage, cauliflower and brinjal. The objective is to create insect-busting vegetables crops and oilseed crops that are atleast 20% more productive. Today, Genetically Modified (GM) products are available in US, Spain, France, Canada, Australia, Mexico and Argentina. In the US, which allowed transgenic products just five years ago, they already accounted for 50% of all soyabean, corn and cotton acreage. Genetically modified plants and terminator seeds technology prevent seeds from germinating in the next generation seeds will be able to produce and harvest a crop, but will not be able to save seeds from their harvest and sow them in the next year. Farmers would have to buy seeds from seed companies each year. This technique is commonly used Western Countries but there is controversy about it in India. Seeds containing the new gene were not brought into the country on any pretext, either as scientific demonstration or field trials. Several multinational seed companies choose India for field trials of transgenic crops, as the western countries do not allow the trails to be conducted on their land on ground of health and security of other crops. The new gene has been tried on tobacco plant and the next target is the self-pollinated food crop like wheat and rice. Seed companies will vie to get a license to use the gene, as the seeds containing these can be used only once and the farmers will have to buy new seeds for every crop. The violent objections to agricultural biotechnology in Europe can, therefore, not be used as a basis for objection to this technology in India. In addition, we cannot allow occur selves to be swayed by the negative publicity that transgenic crops have received as a result of poorly designed experiments with not relevance to agricultural, environmental and medical safety. |
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