THE APPLICATION OF BIOTECHNOLOGY IN AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY

INTRODUCTION
Biotechnology is broadly defined as any technique that uses live organisms viz. bacteria, viruses, fungi, yeast, animal cells, plant cells etc. to make or modify a product, to improve plants or animals or to engineer micro-organisms for specific uses. It encompasses genetic engineering, inclusive of enzyme and protein engineering plant and animal tissue culture technology, biosensors for biological monitoring, bioprocess and fermentation technology. Biotechnology is essentially and interdisciplinary are consisting of biochemistry, molecular chemistry, molecular and microbiology, genetics and immunology etc. it is concerned with upgradation of quality and also utilization of livestock and resources for the well being of both animals and plants.

Biotechnology is the application of scientific techniques to modify and improve plants, animals, and microor­ganisms to enhance their value.

Agricultural biotech­nology is the area of biotechnology involving applica­tions to agriculture. Agricultural biotechnology has been  practiced for a long time, as people have sought to im­prove agriculturally important organisms by selection and breeding. An example of traditional agricultural bio­technology is the development of disease-resistant wheat varieties by cross-breeding different wheat types until the desired disease resistance was present in a resulting new variety.

These techniques can transform ideas into practical applications, viz, certain crops can be genetically altered to increase their tolerance to certain herbicides. Biotechnology can be used to develop safer vaccines against viral and bacterial diseases. It also offers new ideas and techniques applicable to agriculture and also develops a better understanding of living systems of our environment and ourselves. It has a tremendous potential for improving crop production, animal agriculture and bio-processing.

Biotechnology helps to isolate the gene, study its function and regulation, modify the gene and reintroduce it into its natural host of another organism. It help unlocking the secrets of diseases resistance, regulates growth and development or manipulates communication among cells and among other organisms.
It is a comparatively new technique and is used in the field of agriculture and horticulture. This mainly involves manipulation in the genetic code (which includes processes like gene transfer), tissue culture, monoclonal antibody preparation protoplast fusion.

These processes help in increasing yield, producing better quality products both in plants and animals, increasing resistance to pests and herbicides, micro propagation in several crops etc. are some of the advantages of using biotechnological methods.

Application Of Biotechnology In Agriculture And Forestry  

1.  Vaccines: Oral vaccines have been in the works for many years as a possible solution to the spread of disease in underdeveloped countries, where costs are prohibitive to widespread vaccination. Genetically engineered crops, usually fruits or vegetables, designed to carry antigenic proteins from infectious pathogens, that will trigger an immune response when injested. An example of this is a patient-specific vaccine for treating cancer. The resulting protein is then used to vaccinate the patient and boost their immune system against the cancer. Tailor-made vaccines for cancer treatment have shown considerable promise in preliminary studies.

2.  Antibiotics:  Plants are used to produce antibiotics for both human and animal use. Expressing antibiotic proteins in livestock feed, fed directly to animals, is less costly than traditional antibiotic production, but this practice raises many bioethics issues, because the result is widespread, possibly unneccessary use of antibiotics which may promote growth of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains.

3.  Flowers: There is more to agricultural biotechnology than just fighting disease or improving food quality. There are some purely aesthetic applications and an example of this is the use of gene identification and transfer techniques to improve the color, smell, size and other features of flowers. Likewise, biotech has been used to make improvements to other common ornamental plants, in particular, shrubs and trees.

4.  Biofuels: The agricultural industry plays a large role in the biofuels industry, providing the feedstocks for fermentation and refining of bio-oil, bio-diesel and bio-ethanol. Genetic engineering and enzyme optimization techniques are being used to develop better quality feedstocks for more efficient conversion and higher BTU outputs of the resulting fuel products. High-yielding, energy-dense crops can minimize relative costs associated with harvesting and transportation (per unit of energy derived), resulting in higher value fuel products.

5.  Plant and Animal Breeding: Enhancing plant and animal traits by traditional methods like cross-pollination, grafting, and cross-breeding is time-consuming. Biotech advances allow for specific changes to be made quickly, on a molecular level through over-expression or deletion of genes, or the introduction of foreign genes. The latter is possible using gene expression control mechanisms such as specific gene promoters and transcription factors.

6.  Pest Resistant Crops:  For years, the microbe Bacillus thuringiensis, which produces a protein toxic to insects, in particular the European corn borer, was used to dust crops. To eliminate the need for dusting, scientists first developed transgenic corn expressing Bt protein, followed by Bt potato and cotton. Bt protein is not toxic to humans, and transgenic crops make it easier for farmers to avoid costly infestations

7.  Pesticide-Resistant Crops: Not to be confused with pest-resistance, these plants are tolerant of pesticides, allowing farmers to selectively kill surrounding weeds without harming their crop. The most famous example of this is the Roundup-Ready technology, developed by Monsanto.

8.  Nutrient Supplementation: In an effort to improve human health, particularly in underdeveloped countries, scientists are creating genetically altered foods that contain nutrients known to help fight disease or malnourishment. An example of this is Golden Rice, which contains beta-carotene, the precursor for Vitamin A production in our bodies. People who eat the rice produce more Vitamin A, an essential nutrient lacking in the diets of the poor in Asian countries. Three genes, two from daffodils and one from a bacterium, capable of catalyzing four biochemical reactions, were cloned into rice to make it “golden”.

9.  Abiotic Stress Resistance:  Less than 20% of the earth is arable land but some crops have been genetically altered to make them more tolerant of conditions like salinity, cold and drought. The discovery of genes in plants responsible for sodium uptake has lead to development of knock-out plants able to grow in high salt environments. Up- or down-regulation of transcription is generally the method used to alter drought-tolerance in plants. Corn and rapeseed plants, able to thrive under drought conditions, are in their fourth year of field trials in California and Colorado, and it is anticipated that they’ll reach the market in 4-5 years.

10.  Industrial Strength Fibers: Spider silk is the strongest fiber known to man, stronger than kevlar (used to make bullet-proof vests), with a higher tensile strength than steel. While it seems the spider silk idea has been put on the shelf for the time-being, it is a technology that is sure to appear again in the future, once more information is gathered on how the silks are woven.

Benefits of biotechnology in agriculture and forestry

Everything in life has its benefits and risks, and genetic engineering is no exception. Much has been said about potential risks of genetic engineering technology, but so far there is little evidence from scientific studies that these risks are real. Transgenic organisms can offer a range of benefits above and beyond those that emerged from innovations in traditional agricultural biotechnol­ogy. Following are a few examples of benefits resulting from applying currently available genetic engineering techniques to agricultural biotechnology.

Increased crop productivity

Biotechnology has helped to increase crop productivity by introducing such qualities as disease resistance and increased drought tolerance to the crops. Now, research­ers can select genes for disease resistance from other species and transfer them to important crops.

Enhanced crop protection

Farmers use crop-protection technologies because they provide cost-effective solutions to pest problems which, if left uncontrolled, would severely lower yields. As mentioned above, crops such as corn, cotton, and potato have been successfully transformed through genetic engineering to make a protein that kills certain insects when they feed on the plants. The protein is from the soil bacterium  Bacillus thuringiensis, which has been used for decades as the active ingredient of some “natu­ral” insecticides. In some cases, an effective transgenic crop-protec­tion technology can control pests better and more cheaply than existing technologies.

Improvements in food processing

The first food product resulting from genetic engineer­ing technology to receive regulatory approval, in 1990, was chymosin, an enzyme produced by genetically en­gineered bacteria. It replaces calf rennet in cheese-mak­ing and is now used in 60 percent of all cheese manu­factured. Its benefits include increased purity, a reliable supply, a 50 percent cost reduction, and high cheese­ yield efficiency.

Improved nutritional value

Genetic engineering has allowed new options for im­proving the nutritional value, flavor, and texture of foods. Transgenic crops in development include soybeans with higher protein content, potatoes with more nutritionally available starch and an improved amino acid content, beans with more essential amino acids, and rice with  the ability produce beta-carotene, a precursor of vita­ min A, to help prevent blindness in people who have nutritionally inadequate diets.

Better flavor

Flavor can be altered by enhancing the activity of plant  enzymes that transform aroma precursors into flavoring compounds. Transgenic peppers and melons with im­proved flavor are currently in field trials.

Fresher produce

Genetic engineering can result in improved keeping properties to make transport of fresh produce easier, giv­ing consumers access to nutritionally valuable whole foods and preventing decay, damage, and loss of nutri­ents.