By Nizla Naizer
Mankind has been modifying food for the last 50,000 years and the modern techniques of modifying some strains of food are the safest in the market, US Secretary of State, Science and Technology Advisor, Dr. Nina V. Federoff said during her visit to Sri Lanka last week. “It’s perfectly safe and it should not be seen as a bad word,” she added.

“Corn is probably one of the most genetically modified plants in existence today. The corn we see today was modified by generations of farmers so it looks nothing like the original plant. A corn ear was as big as a telescope, the kernels did not stick to the ear and it was a tall plant before we mutated and modified the plant into what it is today,” she informed, “Easy to cultivate and easy to harvest. So with generations of men modifying food for millennia why is the modern techniques of modification coming under so much fire?”

Dr. Federoff who is a leading plant geneticist and molecular biologist from the USA is in the country to meet with government officials and researchers to promote bio-technology and genetically modified (GM) food. “By GM, we mean that one or two strains of protein have been introduced to the crop which has the capacity to reproduce naturally. These strains of protein are tested extensively in high concentration levels to ensure that no health or safety hazards are prevalent. Only after the test results are positive do we add the protein to the plant or crop.”

Genetically Modified crops such as corn, soya and cotton have a higher resistance to destructive insects, have higher yields and consume less fertiliser. She informed that through genetically modified crops the world saw a reduction in the use of fertiliser by 400000 Metric Tons last year. “The amount of crops consumed annually grows by 10% every year and in 2007 we had 115000 hectares of land in 23 different countries growing GM crops. There are 12 million farmers employed in these lands and 11 million of them are small scale farmers.”

Staying ahead of the population curve
She explained that with the emergence of crises across the world, it’s more important now to find a solution to the food shortage. “The food crisis and soaring energy costs are all interconnected. It was predicted 200 years ago that the population is growing faster than the plants’ ability to provide for you. And even though science has entered agriculture and helped our food supply stay ahead of the population curve, in the last few decades we have forgotten that we need to work hard to stay ahead.”

Dr. Federoff informed that in 2008, the world woke up to the fact that the lowest food reserve in 30 years was at their door. With research in agriculture neglected, commodity prices soaring and food riots across the world in motion, it was time for a solution to be spread across the world.

“We know hungry people are destructive people. We cannot have a second ‘green revolution’ because it is already been done. Dwarfing mutations of plants led to double cropping and higher yield with the first ‘green revolution’ but we cannot do it again. The land that we can use for agriculture isn’t getting larger and the population is set to reach 9 billion by 2050, what is the answer to solving the food crisis?”

She explained that the only solution is to be more scientific. “Saying that you do not want to consume genetically modified food because there have been alterations made is like going to the doctor with a cancer and saying don’t treat me with modern medication but leech me like they did hundreds of years ago. It’s a modern solution to a problem we all face”

GM - The way forward
Despite the criticism and anti-GM lobbying in many countries in Asia, genetically modified food is progressing among the masses. “We see in India that the government is investing heavily in promoting genetically modified cotton because the yield is higher and fewer chemicals are required to help it grow.”

Europe though, ironically, produced most of the genetically modifying techniques practised today, were the biggest critiques against GM food, but the mentality in Europe is also changing with the first set of GM soya beans imported in December last year.

Even though the crops currently genetically modified through modern methods are corn, soya and cotton, she is confident that genetically modified strains of rice will soon be produced in China which has already tested GM plants. “As for wheat, when the concept came up by Monsanto there was a huge protest by the Wheat Growers Association because the Bakers Association was against it. Now however, with wheat prices soaring they have approached Monsanto to create a more cost effective, higher yielding wheat plant.” Monsanto is a multinational corporation and the leading producer of genetically engineered seed, holding 70%–100% market share for various crops.

“Monsanto’s work has helped many developing nations,” Federoff informed, “In two years they turned Malawi into a food aid country to a food exporting country.” She explained that it’s important that countries in the Asian region change their regulatory policies to enable genetically modified crops which can help their people enter the country.

GM and Sri Lanka
Federoff when asked how the Sri Lankan response to Genetically Modified crops are, said that the officials of the government she spoke to were enthusiastic and that research on molecular biology is already conducted intensively by the research institutes within the country. “Sri Lanka requires all imports to be labelled. And we believe labelling is appropriate to address safety and nutritional matters. We do not believe in labelling a crop as GM when most products on the market is genetically modified. What we do through modern techniques is the safest in the market because we test it intensively before putting it out there. We are required to test it and approve it, while most of the mutated, home grown crops are not and maybe adverse to the consumer’s health.”

She was confident that with the current US Administration a more scientific approach would be taken to policy making and that promoting crop which could solve the food crisis faced by the world was the way to go forward.