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Genetically Modified Crops - Industry Report
CYGNUS Business Consulting & Research, Jan 2005, Pages: 170
The problem of ever increasing human population coupled with diminishing arable land poses a challenge in terms of the agricultural yield of different commodities. Genetically Modified (GM) Crops are an answer to this crisis.
The GM crops currently available in the market are canola, corn cotton, papaya, potato, rice, soybean, squash, sugarbeet, and tomato. Other GM crops in progress are apple, banana, barley, coconut, mango, pineapple and sweet potato.
A total of 18 countries are at present cultivating GM crops of which Paraguay is the new member. In the year 2004, 81 million hectare (mha) of agricultural land worldwide was under the cover of GM crop. The major contributor in the geographical expansion of the GM is the US which has planted 47.6 million hectare, which is 59 per cent of the world aggregate. Following US are Argentina and Canada who have planted 20 per cent and 7 per cent of the world’s total GM crops respectively.
With the development of GM crops, biosafety is a concern that has prompted both developing as well as industrialized countries to implement guidelines governing testing, safe use and handling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). A national biosafety and regulatory system to regulate production and release of GMOs is considered essential in any country with a biotechnology program.
The US regulatory system operates in a coordinated framework involving three government agencies: (1) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), (2) United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and (3) Federal Drug Administration (FDA). The community biotechnology legislation introduced by EU in the 1990s has formed a part of an effort to address the issues of GMOs and genetically modified microorganisms (GMMs).
Biosafety concerns are quite new to the Asian region. Japan uses a series of voluntary guidelines administered through four governmental agencies to ensure safe use and application of recombinant technologies; China's first biosafety guidelines were produced by the State Science and Technology Commission in December 1993. Similar kind of biosafety regulations have been formed for different countries like Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Nigeria etc.
In India, GM crops are regulated by the following three-tier structure:
- The Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation (RCGM) under the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST);
- The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) under the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF);
- The Monitoring and Evaluation Committee (MEC) under DBT/MoST;
In 2005, the department of biotechnology (DBT) formulated the national biotechnology development strategy policy based on the recommendations provided by MS Swaminathan taskforce on agricultural bio-technology and the Mashelkar committee on biotechnology in the pharma sector.
In India, the acreage of GM crops in 2004 grew by more than ten times – industry sources compute the total acreage at 5 lakh hectares with single cotton crop approved. Most R&D work in India is being conducted in the public sector involving specialist national laboratories and research centers. Private sector efforts at introducing GM crops into India began, in effect, in 1995, when Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company (MAHYCO) obtained the approval of RCGM/DBT to import Bt-cotton seeds.
In 2005, the situation has changed and now farmers have more choices to grow Bt cotton hybrids such as 6 hybrids in Northern Zone, 12 hybrids in Central Zone and 9 hybrids in Southern Zone including two new cotton hybrids recently approved.
The GM crop market is very much dependant on the global seed market. The global seed companies are exploring all possibilities of introducing GM seeds with many varieties. Worldwide hybrid seeds industry is calculated at US$30 billion. The US and EU hold a large share of global seed market. The largest seed market in value terms is US at US$5.7 billion. EU, however, may not remain a lucrative market in growth terms as it has become saturated and also because the arable land is decreasing. African continent is registering fastest growth in seed sales. Asian continent is growing at a modest pace of 1.3 per cent and presently valued at US$43.2 million.
Presently, GM crops are undergoing a period of mixed developments all over the globe. These include approval of two new cotton hybrids in India; approval of biosafety rules in Pakistan, IPR experiences in developing countries, assessment of GM rice in China, GM crops performing well in Poland etc., are the key developments in the recent past. All said and done, one cannot ignore the benefits it is going to reap in the days to come.
It is predicted that as many as 15 million farmers in 30 countries or more could be planting GM crops by 2010 over an area of 150 million hectares. Despite the continuing debate and challenges associated with GM crops, the area under GM crops and the numbers of farmers growing them have continued to grow at a double digit rate or more, since their introduction in 1996. This is a clear indication of the extent of GM crop market size expansion.
Sources
- Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), GOI
- Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India (GOI)
- Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science & Technology, GOI
- Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)
- Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), GOI
- International Cotton Advisory Committee
- International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA)
- K.S. Jayaraman (Interview)
- Ministry of Environment and Forest, GOI
- Monsanto India Ltd.
- The Center for Advising and Student Achievement (CASA)
- United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and
- Cygnus Research
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