7:The BioBusiness Revolution 2: Agriculture and the Environment: Past, Present, And Future

“When we are able to grow the resources we need, we’ll finally be on the road to sustainability” was the takeaway message Prof left with us. This is very true, because only when we know the method of growing our resources, then can we continually pass the skills on to the future generations and encourage them to explore and discover more and eventually be self-sustainable. It’s just as the saying goes “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”.

In the era we live in, we seek to continually discover more alternative resources or methods to boost agricultural produce. We don’t wait and hope to chance upon resources, we actively SEEK the routes to finding such resources or technology. All these are done in the hope that we could eventually be self-sustainable and one important transition I’d like to highlight is our shift from the GREEN to GENE revolution with the aim of being food secure and sustainable.

Green revolution was highly lauded back in the 1970s because the development and technology initiatives helped quadruple the amount of output with every acre of land, thereby being able to feed a much larger population. However, crops faced the threat of being wiped out by capricious weather and the devastation was even greater when people didn’t have enough food supply.

With the current improvements in biotechnology, we now have the Gene Revolution, and as its name suggests, crops can be genetically engineered to possess favourable characteristics to withstand harsh and unpredictable weather. The video belows explains our transition from the green to gene revolution.



Gene revolution seeks to provide many opportunities for countries like India (an agrarian country), because sensible integration of biotechnology in research can accelerate the pace of agricultural improvement and is of considerable relevance. With no more arable land available for agricultural expansion in India, enhancing stress tolerance in crop plants will permit productive farming on currently unproductive lands. Abiotic factors such as drought, heat, cold, soil salinity and acidity cripple Indian crops seriously constraining their growth and yield. One could extend the growing season of crops and minimise losses due to environmental factors. The shelf life of fruits and vegetables can be prolonged to reduce losses to food spoilage, expand the market vista and improve food quality.

Many other countries, like Mexico, China, Argentina have reaped benefits from the biotech supported agricultural programmes implemented in their country. When crops are engineered to be pest-resistant, drought-resistant and more nutritious, output level will not be greatly affected by invasion of pests/occurrence of extreme weather conditions. This can ensure a steady supply of food and thus increases food security and economic stability as well!

However, there have been certain areas of concern with regards to these genetically modified crops/food, as we discussed in class too. Questions arose as to whether we knew if we were consuming GM food or if we would avoid eating GM food if we knew of its nature. Honestly speaking, I will not seek to specifically find out whether I had been consuming GM food and I won’t avoid GM food unless there are stated components with which I’m allergic to. Furthermore, GM food can sometimes be more nutritious than others, so why not consume it?

But concerns aside, we cannot deny that genetically engineered crops have proven to be beneficial and are the first step towards sustainability in
the area of food. We have to chance people's mindset, like what reading 4 mentioned, and get them to have greater acceptance towards the gene revolution, because technology drives changes. We cannot ignore/stop technology just because of its potential problems. Rather we should follow its natural flow, amplify its benefits and work on the shortcomings so that in future, we can make things better and prevent the occurence of the potential problems.

Likewise, research into the different alternatives sources of energy have yielded positive discovery of say, the use of biofuels to generate energy. Although it has been said that biofuels can threaten food security because it uses agricultural crops in its energy generating process, but it still could serve as an alternative source in times of need. Furthermore, the exploration and breakthrough achieved in identifying possible substitutes are crucial in reducing reliance on a sole source and thereby can increase sustainability in the long run.

Today’s lesson was pretty engaging and the topic of protecting corals was very interesting because it clearly showed how biotechnology could play a role in protecting marine life as well. Overall I’d rate an 8.5/10!