Biotechnology within the goals of national agricultural development

On the contrary, if used within the context of national needs, it can be used to increase crop productivity in our country.

First of all, biotechnology does not simply mean genetically modified crops or organisms. It can be used to speed up current breeding practices, as a tool for disease diagnostics as well as to catalogue the rich biological diversity of our plant species.

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Secondly, all biotechnology is not what we can import from abroad. Scientists in our country are doing biotechnological research to improve our local crops.

Thirdly, by agreeing to consider the fact that biotechnological research can benefit our agricultural sector, the government has opened the door to the legislature, which can prevent multinationals from exporting GMOs to Bangladesh, unless the policy-makers approve of it.

I would like to clear the mind of the general reader about certain misconceptions generated by The Biotechnology Trap.

First of all, farmers can make their own hybrid seeds if trained to do so. BRRI has produced its first hybrid rice, which has gained popularity with farmers in Jessore and some farmers have already been trained to produce their own seed. It just needs an extra step of having to produce the parent seeds first from which hybrid seeds will be derived, every time. Due to its genetic makeup, hybrid seeds have to be produced from specific parents because only the hybrids (and not their parents or progeny) have high yields.

As pointed out by the author, a lot of biotechnology is private, but a lot of research is being carried out by public research institutes as well. Golden Rice is one example and then we have Bt rice as well as bacterial blight and fungus resistant rice, produced at IRRI.

Yes, in the West, the main focus is on pesticide resistant varieties -- that is because they do not need disease resistant or drought tolerant crops. We need to do this research ourselves.

Agriculture has become commercial, just as everything else has in the 21st century. This is a sign of the times and not really to do with the Green Revolution. Potato crackers are available even in the tiniest village shops. It is however not true that seeds from GM crops cannot be saved. These are like any other seeds.

Yes, if the seeds are bought from a multinational company, they may ask royalty every time these seeds are planted. However, it is unlikely that foreign GM seeds will do well in our environment. If these seeds have qualities that we need, like say drought resistance, these will have to be introduced into farmer popular varieties of our country. So the government can enter into a farmer-friendly deal, if the quality of the crop is beneficial to our needs.

The adverse affect of GM food reported by Mr. Islam's article is very specific and that of one type of Bt corn to which only one out of a million people were found allergic to. This product was later taken off the market. Most GM foods have to be tested under stringent criteria and are only released after safety is assured. This is unlike the scenario where our farmers spray insecticide to the eggplant crop once a day, which surely becomes toxic and we eat it without question.

Yes, some herbicide resistant crops may become weeds, but this is only true for crops, which are cross-pollinated. Most cereal crops are self-pollinated. Then again, Bangladesh does not need herbicide tolerant crops. It needs disease resistant and drought, flood and salt resistant crops. We should aim to take what we need and after determining whether it will make a much-needed impact on increasing our productivity.

As for Bt cotton in India, the full picture of the results of such plantation is not complete yet. Some farmers have reported good yields, while others have not. Since it is the same seed, other environmental factors are probably at play here and one cannot claim that Bt cotton has been a disaster in India.

As with any technology, its proper use in a planned manner can yield benefits, while improper use can harm the public. If we can produce a flood tolerant rice variety, no writing in newspapers will prevent farmers from using such a crop in flood-prone areas, because that is his livelihood. Research has progressed to a stage, where such a crop could be produced very soon. Neither the West, not any Multinational is interested in such a crop, but a farmer would be. Instead of being critical, let us encourage the government to fund research that would actually produce such a crop within our country for the benefit of our farmers.

Zeba I. Sera is a Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Dhaka University.