This document discusses GM crops and food security in India. It notes that India's population is projected to increase significantly by 2050, greatly increasing future food demands. Current agriculture faces challenges in meeting these demands due to issues like diminishing farmland and water resources. Biotechnology can help address these challenges by developing crops with higher yields, improved nutrition, and tolerance to abiotic stresses. Examples discussed include Bt cotton, which has significantly increased yields while reducing pesticide use in India. The document also covers potential future applications of GM crops to further improve food security.

1. GM CROPS AND FOOD SECURITY
P. ANANDA KUMAR
Institute of Biotechnology
PJTSAU

2. FOOD SECURITY
“Food Security exists when all people,
at all times, have physical and economic
access to sufficient, safe and nutritious
food to meet their dietary needs and
food preference for an active and
healthy life”
World Food Summit, 1996: FAO, 1996

3. ATTAINING FOOD SECURITY
3 components central to food security
Availability
Adequacy
Accessibility

4. INDIA
POPULATION
2008: 1.15 b
2050: 1.50 b

5. FUTURE NEED
COMMODITY 2000 2010 2020
FOOD GRAINS 208.0 266.0 343.0
EDIBLE OIL 6.3 9.4 13.0
VEGETABLES 80.0 117.2 168.0
FRUITS 22.2 42.9 81.0
MILK 84.0 153.1 271.0
MEAT, FISH &
6.2 12.7 27.0
EGGS
SUGAR 12.8 17.3 22.0
TIFAC: TECHNOLOGY VISION 2020
Million Tonnes

6. INDIAN AGRICULTURE
• Agriculture represents 22% GDP
• 126 million farming families engaged in
Primary agriculture
• 234 million in agriculture sector
• Average farm size – 1.41 Ha
• 90 % production - domestic use
• Export – $6 billion (1.5% of total exports)
• 700 million people living in 683,000 villages

7. IMPEDIMENTS
 Urbanization
 Diminishing area of cultivated land
 Soil erosion
 Salinization of land
 Depleting water resources
 Vanishing energy resources
 New threats (E.g., Ug99)
 Global climate change

8. SPECIFIC PROBLEMS
 Malnutrition
 Undernourishment
 Micronutrient deficiency
 Anemia in women and children
 Strict consumer preferences

9. BIOTECH OPPORTUNITIES
• Break Yield Barriers
• Improve productivity –output/input ratio
• Improve quality of foods and grains
• Minimize chemical inputs – pesticides and
fertilizers
• Integrated Management - Insect pests and
diseases
JUDICIOUS COMBINATION OF
PLANT BREEDING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

10. GM CROPS-THE PROMISE
More food
Better quality food
Safer food
Healthy foods
Designer foods

11. PLANT GENETIC ENGINEERING
Genetic manipulation of a plant
species by introduction and expression
of a foreign gene or its own gene to
confer a novel trait or character

12. Dr Bruce Chassy, UIUC

13. CROWN-GALL DISEASE IN PLANTS
The disease is characterized by a tumour-like growth on
the infected plant, often at the junction between the
root
and the shoot.

15. APPROACHES
Agrobacterium
Particle bombardment
DNA uptake by protoplasts
Electroporation
Lasers
Silica nanoparticles

16. PIONEERS
Mary Dell-Chilton Marc Van Montagu Jeff Schell

17. Making a “Gene
Construct”
Promoter Coding Sequence Terminator
Ligation
Ligation
Transformation
Vector

18. MAKING A TRANSGENIC PLANT
Transgenic Plant
Promoter Term.
Binary Vector
Agrobacterium
Hypocotyl Inoculation
Callus Induction
Embryogenesis
Shooting
Suspension
Culture
Rooting
Coding Sequence
Transformation systems
currently in place for all
crop species

19. GENE GUN
Gene gun

20. GM CROPS
(Transgenic Crops)
• Resistance to pests and diseases
• Tolerance to drought and salinity
• Production of high yielding hybrids
• Improvement of protein and oil quality
• Post-harvest traits
• Metabolic manipulation
• Therapeutics
• Edible vaccines
• Phytoremediation

21. GM CROPS
GLOBAL STATUS
Area of GM crops in 2003
is 170 million hectares in 28 countries
Herbicide tolerance
Insect pest resistance
Virus resistance
Male sterility
Modified oil quality
ISAAA, 2007
ISAAA, 2014

22. GM CROPS – BENEFITS - 1996-2006
ECONOMIC
Net gain US$ 34 billion
SOCIAL
Alleviation of poverty by enhancing the income of resource-poor
Reduction of drudgery- Farm labour and women
ENVIRONMENTAL
Reduced pesticide usage
Protection of water, soil, biodiversity, animal and human health
Brookes and Barfoot, 2009

23. Slow-Ripening Tomato
“Flavr-Savr”
(First commercialized GM crop-1994)
• Improved texture
• Delayed ripening
• Facilitation of transportation

24. PEST RESISTANCE
Bt Cotton - 1995
• Carries a gene coding for δ-endotoxin of Bt
(Bacillus thuringiensis, a biopesticide)
• The gene confers resistance to bollworms
• Protects the yield
• Drastically reduces pesticide consumption
(290,000 METRIC TONS OF PESTICIDE
INGREDIENT)

25. Non-Bt (Tigers) and Bt cotton

26. Bt-COTTON IN INDIA
Bt-cotton - First GM crop – 2002
Area – 10.0 million hectares - 2013
Bt cotton hybrids - 1200 - 2013
Net economic benefit - $ 225/ha
Yield gain - 31%
Reduction in pesticide sprays – 39%
Increase in profit – 88%
Second in global cotton production
(34 million bales - 2013-14)

27. Bt-BRINJAL HYBRIDS
M/S Mahyco, Jalna
MHB-4 Bt MHB-9 Bt
MHB-11 Bt
MHB-39 Bt
MHB-80 Bt MHBJ-99 Bt

28. AICVIP FIELD TRIALS WITH BT BRINJAL HYBRIDS
Field
Trials
Reduction in
insecticide use
Increase in fruit
yield (%) over
For FSB All pests Non-Bt
2004-05 80.0 40.4 154.2
2005-06 74.5 43.2 113.0
Average 77.2 41.8 133.6
AICVIP, ICAR, 2007

29. Bt-Brinjal (ICAR)
Licensed to four seed companies - PPP

30. DISEASE RESISTANCE
• Transgenic Papaya
• Resistant to Papaya
Ring Spot Virus
• Commercial
Cultivation in
Hawaii and China
Dr Bruce Chassy, UIUC

31. LATE BLIGHT RESISTANT POTATO
Cv. Kufri Bahar Dr S K Chakrabarti, CPRI

32. HERBICIDE RESISTANCE
Resistant to eco-friendly
herbicides
Soybean, corn, cotton,
Canola and alfalfa
Predominant trait
CONSERVATION TILLAGE AND BETTER WEED CONTROL
Facilitates adoption of reduced tillage systems (strip-till)
Sustainable agricultural systems by maintaining natural
resources; Enhanced nutrient availability;
 Less crop damage and Improved yields
Roundup Ready Flex Bt cotton – Field tests

33. NURITIONAL QUALITY

34. NURITIONAL QUALITY

35. NUTRITIONAL QUALITY
“Golden Rice”
*Expression of
enzymes of β-
carotene pathway in
rice endosperm
*Amelioration of
Vitamin A deficiency
Dr Gerard Barry, IRRI

36. GOLDEN RICE
Dr Gerard Barry, IRRI

37. INDIAN GOLDEN RICE NETWORK CENTRES
IARI,
New Delhi
DRR,
Hyderabad
TNAU,
Coimbatore
Swarna
Jaya
ADT43
ASD16
IBPT5204
MTU1010
Dr A K Singh, IARI

38. IRON AVAILABILITY
Co-expression of soybean ferritin
and Aspergillus phytase in maize
endosperm resulted in an increased
availability and absorption of iron
Drakakaki et al., PMB 2005; 59: 869-880.

39. FERRITIN IN RICE ENDOSPERM
Qu et al., Planta 2005; 222: 225-233

40. BIOFORTIFICATION-EFFORTS
• High β-carotene maize
• High lysine rice
• High folic acid rice
• High iron wheat
• High β -carotene cassava
• High β -carotene potato
• High β -carotene groundnut

41. OIL QUALITY
• High oleic acid canola and soybean.
(Unsaturated Fatty Acids-Healthy)
• High Laurate Canola (Industrial)
(Commercialized in USA, Calgene)

42. OIL QUALITY

43. Improved Protein Quality
Introduction of an Amaranthus gene
coding for a protein with balanced
amino acid content (WHO standards) in
potato
Chakraborty et al., PNAS 2000; 97: 7 3724-3729

44. NUTRITIONAL QUALITY
Improve protein in staple vegetables, cassava
and potato
Removing allergens and anti-nutrients
Remove cyanide in roots of cassava
Remove glycoalkaloid toxin in potato
Allergenic proteins in rice and wheat
Increase antioxidant content
Lycopene content in tomato

45. ABIOTIC STRESS TOLERANCE
Plant Physiology 2008 ;147: 446-455.
Bacterial RNA chaperones confer abiotic stress tolerance on plants

46. DROUGHT TOLERANCE
Transgenic maize which
expresses an RNA chaperone
gene is tolerant to salt and
water stress
AFRICA
CIMMYT-MONSANTO
Melinda & Bill Gates Foundation
Howard Buffett Foundation

47. NIROGEN USE EFFICIENCY
Expression of Dof1,
a transcription
factor
improved NUE in
Arabidopsis
under low nitrogen
Yanagisawa et al., PNAS 2004;
101:7833-7838

48. HYBRID PRODUCTION
• Creation of male sterile and restorer lines
• Use of bacterial genes Barnase & Barstar
(E.g. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens)
• Production of high yielding hybrids
• Hybrids of Canola Commercialized
(Canada, Australia, USA)

49. EDIBLE VACCINES
• Expression of Hepatitis B Surface
Antigen in Banana Fruits
• Expression of Cholera toxin subunits in
Potato
Safe and Painless Immunization
(Dr C. Arntzen, Cornell Univ.,)

50. EDIBLE VACCINE AGAINST HIV
JP 120 protein in maize seed

51. FLORICULTURE
• Manipulation of flower colour
• Shelf-Life of cut flowers
• Novel pigmentation
i).Violet Carnation
Moondust - Australia, Japan
ii). Blue Rose (Japan)

52. PHYTOREMEDIATION
• Removal of pollutants, heavy metals and
toxic substances from soil
• Transgenic Poplar expressing merA gene
coding for mercury reductase coverts toxic
ionic mercury to elemental mercury.

53. INDIA GM CROPS - STATUS
• PUBLIC RESEARCH INSTITUTES:
– 14 Crop Networks, 10 Universities
– 12 crops (cotton, brinjal, mustard, potato,
peanuts, tomato, pulses, rice, wheat, cabbage,
cauliflower and okra)
• PRIVATE INDUSTRY:
– 5 Multinationals, 10 small companies
– 9 crops (cotton, brinjal, rice, cabbage,
cauliflower, okra, corn, tomato, pigeonpea)

54. POTENTIAL TRANSGENICS
Bt RICE, OKRA, CABBAGE – Mahyco, Jalna
Bt CABBAGE - NUNHEMS, New Delhi
BPH-RESISTANT RICE-OSMANIA UNI, Hyderabad
PROTEIN QUALITY POTATO – JNU, New Delhi
SALT TOLERANT RICE - MSSRF, Chennai
APHID RESISTANT MUSTARD – IIT, Kharagpur
PODBORER RESISTANT CHICKPEA-AAU, Jorhat

55. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
Private Co., Public Institute
“Golden rice” – Syngenta, IARI, DRR, UDSC & TNAU
Bt-brinjal – ABSP II - Mahyco, UAS-D, TNAU & IIVR
GM-papaya – Monsanto and TNAU
Public Institute Private Co.,
Bt-cotton-IIT, Kharagpur - M/S J. K. Agri.
Bt-cotton (NBRI) – J.K. Agri-Genetics
Bt-brinjal (NRCPB) – M/S Bejo Sheetal and 3 other companies

56. BIOSAFETY
TRANSGENIC CROPS SHOULD BE
“SUBSTANTIALLY EQUIVALENT”
TO THEIR CONVENTIONAL
COUNTERPARTS
AND POSE NO GREATER RISK
CONVENTION OF BIODIVERSITY - 1992
THE CARTAGENA PROTOCOL ON BIOSAFETY (CPB) - 1993
CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION - 1962

57. NEAR FUTURE
• Pest resistant legumes
• Drought tolerant rice and wheat
• Disease resistance in major crops
• Enhanced nutrient use efficiency
• Heterosis and apomixis in crops
LIMIT : IMAN !

58. THANK YOU