Agricultural Biotechnology: Transforming Farming and Ensuring Food Security

Did you know that some crops today can survive in extreme conditions, resist diseases, and even pack in more nutrients than ever before? Welcome to the world of agricultural biotechnology. Now the global population is about 8.2 billion and it is increasing rapidly and we need more food but due to changing climate the production of major food crops is also declining. Advances in molecular biology and biotechnology provide hope for the future. Agricultural biotechnology can help smallholder farmers in developing countries boost crop yields and improve crop quality. More than 14 million smallholder farmers in China, India, and other countries are already benefiting from biotech crops like cotton and corn.

What is agricultural biotechnology?

Agricultural biotechnology refers to the application and development of scientific tools and techniques to improve agriculture. It is applied in many ways in farming and food science to engineer better systems involving animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms used for human consumption.

Why is this important?

This technology is used in the food and agriculture sectors for the genetic improvement of plant varieties and animal populations. Biotechnology addresses these issues by helping farmers produce more with fewer resources and creating plants that can withstand the extreme conditions brought about by a changing climate.

The gene was first inserted into corn using molecular techniques in 1989. By the late 1990s, farmers were cultivating millions of acres of genetically modified corn. Biotechnology for agriculture is still in its early stages, but it's already having a big impact.

How does biotechnology benefit agriculture?

Advances in seed technology have boosted crop production in various ways. Engineers have developed “stacked” corn varieties that are genetically modified to include multiple protective traits, like resistance to herbicides, pests, and drought.

• Herbicide-tolerant corn varieties are engineered to tolerate specific broad-spectrum herbicide chemicals, reducing the economically and ecologically costly need for soil tillage.

• Pest-resistant crops, like Bt cotton, have genes that produce proteins harmful to certain pests, reducing the need for chemical pesticides and helping the environment.

• Drought-tolerant maize (Zea mays) and salt-tolerant rice (Oryza sativa) have evolved to tolerate adverse conditions, ensuring food production even in challenging climates.

• Golden rice
  Genetically modified golden rice (Oryza sativa) is a type of rice developed to contain more vitamin A, which is important for eye health, healthy skin, and immunity. It was created by adding genes that help produce beta-carotene, giving the rice its golden color. This rice aims to reduce vitamin A deficiency, which is common in many developing countries. By including golden rice in their diet, people can get essential nutrients that regular rice doesn’t provide.
  
  Genetically edited crops have the potential to reduce pesticide use and soil degradation (by cultivating disease-resistant, herbicide-resistant, and stress-tolerant plants and increasing the nutritional quality of plants) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The role of gene editing in modern agriculture

In recent years, advances like genome-wide association studies (GWAS), next-generation sequencing (NGS), and genome editing (GE) have become powerful tools in efforts to improve crops. Gene-editing technologies, such as Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats and CRISPR-associated protein (CRISPR/Cas), have transformed plant breeding. Unlike traditional breeding, which can take years to develop desired traits, through gene editing we can allow precise changes to be made to a plant's DNA to speed up the breeding process.

Challenges

While agricultural biotechnology offers significant benefits, it also faces several challenges and ethical concerns. Regulatory approvals, intellectual property rights, and public perception can all impede the adoption of biotechnological innovations. Additionally, concerns about genetic modification and biodiversity have led to calls for transparent labeling and rigorous testing. Addressing these issues requires cooperation among policymakers, scientists, and the public to build trust and establish guidelines that safeguard human health and the environment.

Supporting Sustainable Agriculture

This article presents the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals related to achieving food security and sustainable development in agriculture. The future of plant agricultural biotechnology considering their potential for reaching the goal of food security. It reduces the use of more dangerous pesticides, and fertilizers and increases organic production. For example, through the development of herbicide-resistant crops, farmers can adopt conservation tillage practices, which reduce soil erosion, water runoff, and greenhouse gas emissions. Farmers can use a range of tools, like biotech crops that are climate-resilient and can better handle challenges like drought, heat, and flooding. By applying this innovative technology, we can sustain our agriculture and shape our modern world.

In summary, agricultural biotechnology can make a better future for farmers and agriculture. Biotechnology is transforming agriculture to tackle 21st-century challenges by boosting crop yields, improving nutrition, and enhancing sustainability and resilience. The future of agriculture relies on biotechnology to build sustainable food systems capable of feeding a growing global population. This means that we should focus on agricultural biotechnology and this has become the need of both people and the planet. Let's make agriculture sustainable and modern.