Crop Modification: Biotech And Non Biotech Approaches

This book introduces the reader to the pros and cons of genetic modification of crops and to the related “terminator” technology with special reference to their adoption in developing countries. In pointing out the benefits of transgenic crops or their food products, the book conveys the message that the bourgeoning populations of developing countries necessitate recourse to high-yielding genetically modified crops if the poor have to be fed and famines averted. At the same time however, certain alternatives to controversial technologies are suggested to minimize any hitherto undetected risks. The book should prove informative to students of agriculture, biotechnology, botany, genetics, agronomy and plant pathology. Contents Chapter 1: Exploitable Biotechnology; Introduction, Biotechnology and agriculture, Agrobiotechnology and sustainable agriculture, Plant biotechnology, The promise and peril of plant biotechnology, Molecular and traditional breeding, Plant tissue culture and seed production, Biosafety, Agroecological versus technological crop management, Ethics and public acceptance of biotechnology, Dimensions of risk; Chapter 2: Transgenic Crops in Europe and USA; Introduction, Global area under transgenics, Transgenic crops in Europe, Transgenic crops in USA, Production of biopharmaceuticals in transgenic plants, Biopharm crops, Health enhancing nutraceuticals, Performance in natural habitats, Transgenic plants and pest management; Chapter 3: Transgenic Crops in Developing Countries; Introduction, Transgenics in India, Breeding for improvement in Indian crops, Rice, Wheat, Maize, Sorghum, Pearl millet, Pigeonpea, Chickpea, Mungbean and uradbean, Cotton, Potato, India mustard, Soybean, Insect resistance, Management of resistance, Bt cotton in India, Fungus resistance, Virus resistance, Pre requisites for developing virus resistant transgenics, Weak regulatory strategies, GM crops in China, GM cotton, Cotton biotechnology in China; Chapter 4: Transgenic Crops: Scientifics Social and Economic Aspects; Introduction, Hazards and introducing genes into plants, Shaky foundation: The dogma in distress?, Farm level impact, Precautionary principle and risk analysis, Scientific, political and ethical dimensions of genetically modified organisms, Transgenic crops and small farmers, Liabilities and economics, Containing the GM revolution, Bt maize; Chapter 5: Natural Selection, Plant Breeding and Improvement of Selected Crops; Introduction, The contrasting attitudes of plant breeders and molecular biologists towards rice; The system of rice intensification, Shuttle breeding for rainfed rice, Dwarf rice, High sugar rice?, Golden rice, Corn, Bt maize: Risks and benefits, Quality protein maize, Contamination of corn in Mexico, Resistance to rootworms, Soybean, GM soybean in Brazil, Bt cotton, Canola and mustard, Effect of climate on yields of corn and soybean, Genetic manipulation of gibberellin metabolism, Genetic engineering of disease resistant grapes; Chapter 6: Food Security, Organic Farming and Alternatives to Biotechnology; Introduction, Impact of modern biotechnology on global agrifood industry, Detection of GMOs in foods, Alternatives to GM technology; Citizen’s juries on GMOs, Organic farming, Organic production, Organic plant breeding, Cotton production: Organic versus GM, Biologically integrated organic farming, Transgenic versus organic crops, Photosynthesis, food production and organic farming, Myths of organic farming, Alternatives to biotechnology for food security, Alternatives to biotechnology?; Chapter 7: Terminator Technology and its Antidote; Introduction, Preventing the spread of transgenes into the environment, Types of GURT, Motives, application and impacts, Preventing issues, Economic aspects, Apomixis, Introduction of apomixis into crop plants, Merits of apomixis, Distinction between terminator technology and apomixis technology.