Bt CORN OR GMO MAIZE CULTIVATION TO SAFEGUARD POULTRY SECTOR OF INDIA : NEED OF THE HOUR
The India poultry market size reached INR 2,099.2 Billion in 2023. Looking forward, IMARC Group expects the market to reach INR 4,620.7 Billion by 2032, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 8.9% during 2024-2032. The expanding population across the country, increasing demand for poultry products, changing consumer dietary preferences, rising disposable incomes, and rapid growth in the food service sector are among the key factors driving the market growth.
India Maize Scenario
Among the maize growing countries, India rank 4th in area and 7th in production, representing around 4% of the world maize area and 2% of total production. During 2018-19 in India, the maize area has reached to 9.2 million ha (DACNET, 2020). During 1950-51 India used to produce 1.73 million MT maize, which has increased to 27.8 million MT by 2018-19, recording close to 16 times increase in production. The average productivity during the period has increased by 5.42 times from 547 kg/ha to 2965 kg/ha, while the area increased nearly by three times. Though the productivity in India is almost half of the world the average per day productivity of Indian maize is at par with many lead maize producing countries.
In India, maize is principally grown in two seasons, rainy (kharif) and winter (rabi). Kharif maize represents around 83% of maize area in India, while rabi maize correspond to 17% maize area. Over 70% of kharif maize area is grown under the rainfed condition with a prevalence of many biotic and abiotic stresses. The stress prone ecology contributes towards lower productivity of kharif maize (2706 kg/ha) as compared to rabi maize (4436 kg/ha), which is predominantly grown under assured ecosystem. In recent past spring maize area is also growing quite fast in north western parts of the country, in the states of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh. Unfortunately, the area and production data of spring maize is not well documented. However, informal estimates suggest the area to be around 150 thousand ha. Among cereals maize has highest growth rate in terms of area and productivity. Since 2010 maize productivity in India is increasing @ over 50 kg/ha/year, which is the highest among food crops.
Among Indian states Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka has highest area under maize (15% each) followed by Maharashtra (10%), Rajasthan (9%), Uttar Pradesh (8%) and others. After Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh Bihar is the highest maize producer. Andhra Pradesh is having the highest state productivity. Some districts like Krishna, West Godavari etc. records as high as 12 t/ha productivity.
Bulk of the maize production in India, approximately 47%, is used as poultry feed. Of the rest of the produce, 13% is used as livestock feed and food purpose each, 12% for industrial purposes, 14% in starch industry, 7% as processed food, and 6% for export and other purposes.
Although most notable organizations and research suggest that GMO foods are safe and sustainable, some people claim they may harm your health and the environment.
GMOs, short for genetically modified organisms, are subject to a lot of controversy.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), GMO seeds are used to plant over 90% of all maize (corn), cotton, and soy grown in the United States, which means that many of the foods you eat likely contain GMOs.
What are GMOs?
“GMO,” which stands for genetically modified organism, refers to any organism whose DNA has been modified using genetic engineering technology.
In the food industry, GMO crops have had genes added to them for various reasons, such as improving:
- their growth
- nutritional content
- sustainability
- pest resistance
- ease of farming
While it’s possible to naturally give foods desirable traits through selective breeding, this process takes many generations. Also, breeders may be unable to determine which genetic change led to a new trait.
Genetic modification accelerates this process by using scientific techniques that give the plant the desired trait.
GMO crops are incredibly common in the United States, with at least 90% of soy, cotton, and corn grown through genetic techniques.
Advantages of GMO foods
GMO foods may offer advantages to the grower and consumer. These can include:
- Pest control: Many GMO crops have been genetically modified to express a gene that protects them against pests and insects. The Bt gene is commonly genetically engineered into crops like corn, cotton, and soybeans. It comes from a naturally occurring bacteria known as Bacillus thuringiensis. This gene produces a toxic protein to several pests and insects, which gives the GMO plants a natural resistance. As such, GMO crops don’t need to be exposed to harmful pesticides as often.
- Fewer pesticides: A 2020 study notes that GMO technology has reduced global chemical pesticide use by 8.3% and indirectly reduced greenhouse gas emissions because farmers don’t need to spray their fields as often.
- Improved survival and greater yield: Other GMO crops have been modified with genes that help them survive stressful conditions, such as droughts, and resist diseases like blight, resulting in a higher yield for farmers.
- Increased nutritional value: Genetic modification can increase the nutritional value of foods. For example, rice high in beta carotene, also called golden rice, was development to help prevent blindness in regions where local diets are chronically deficient in vitamin A.
- Enhanced flavor: Genetic modification can enhance the flavor and appearance of foods, such as the non-browning apple.
Where and how is biotech corn grown?
Corn is one of the most commonly grown GMO crops around the world, second only to soybeans. According to most recent figures, it was planted in 14 countries on every continent, including the USA, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Canada, Philippines, Paraguay, Uruguay, Spain, Vietnam, Colombia, Honduras, Chile and Portugal. GMO corn was planted on more than 60 million hectares, or 150 million acres. That’s almost the size of Texas! (Source: ISAAA)
Corn is the most commonly grown crop in the United States, and most of it is GMO. Most GMO corn is created to resist insect pests or tolerate herbicides. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn is a GMO corn that produces proteins that are toxic to certain insect pests but not to humans, pets, livestock, or other animals. These are the same types of proteins that organic farmers use to control insect pests, and they do not harm other, beneficial insects such as ladybugs. GMO Bt corn reduces the need for spraying insecticides while still preventing insect damage. While a lot of GMO corn goes into processed foods and drinks, most of it is used to feed livestock, like cows, and poultry, like chickens. (Source: US FDA Feed Your Mind website)
The U.S. is the largest corn producer on Earth, accounting for more than 30 percent of the world’s corn crop. It’s grown on more than 400,000 farms in the U.S., and almost 20 percent of the corn grown in the States is exported for international trade, supporting one million American jobs .
India requires to increase maize production by 10 million tonnes (mt) over the next five years amid growing demand for ethanol production and to meet demand from the poultry industry, Agriculture Secretary Manoj Ahuja said while speaking at the 9th India Maize Summit organied by industry body FICCI.
Production of maize in 2022-23 (July-June) is estimated at 34.6 mt, against 33.7 mt last year.
The world is witnessing a renewed push in favour of genetically modified seeds and crops. As they have been done in the past, biotech firms and agribusiness are pitching new biotech plants as a silver bullet for humanity’s woes, from food and nutritional insecurity, to climate change and the loss of biodiversity. In this desperate need for solutions, the corporate sector hopes that their new GMOs (genetically modified organisms) can gain public support and easily dodge biosafety regulations. This is resulting in the persistent change of laws, regulations and standards governing GMOs across Asian countries. Gene-edited products, a new generation of GMO technology, are particularly gaining ground and receiving commercial licenses. This causes great concern among consumers, farming communities and activists.
As of 2019, genetically modified crops were being cultivated in approximately 190 million hectares across the world, covering four main crops – soya bean (50%), maize (30%), cotton (13%) and canola (5%). Most of these plants are not meant for human consumption, but rather as animal feed and in the last two decades, maize has increasingly been utilised for ethanol production. Despite the declining number of GMO approvals, commercialization of GM crops has continued steadily, in some countries the process of commercialisation has even hastened.
In recent years, corporations have also been working on the development of GMOs with new traits, also known as transgenic, aimed mainly against pests, herbicides and frost. Other transgenics still in the works include bruising-resistant and low acrylamide (found in starchy foods) types.
Parallel to this, biotech corporations have been successful in the fast track push of their novel GMOs, branded as new plant breeding techniques. Since some of these new plant breeding techniques, like gene editing, do not require the insertion of an external gene, the biotech industry and some government agencies argue that these gene-edited products should not be treated and regulated as GMOs. As a result, in several Asian countries, gene-edited products are being approved and commercialised for public consumption and new policies are being drafted to make gene-edited products available.
As was also the case in the European Union, Asia-Pacific countries have been debating whether to treat gene-edited organisms as GMOs or not. New Zealand for example explicitly stated that gene-edited crops must be regulated in the same restrictive manner as GMOs.However, India in March 2022 brought in a new regulation excluding gene editing from GMO regulations.
Officially, Bt Cotton is the only genetically modified crop allowed in India. And twenty years after its approval for commercial cultivation in 2002, more than one thousand Bt cotton seed varieties – belonging to dozens of seed companies- are now sold in the Indian market, with the local Indian varieties nowhere to be found.
However, within a few years of introduction, Monsanto which brought this technology to India, accepted the failure of its first and second-generation insecticidal Bt cotton varieties. The targeted pest, pink bollworm, developed resistance to the toxins produced by these traits. Failure of GM cotton to control pests was responsible for the rise of suicides among cotton farmers, devastated by increased costs of seeds, increased chemical inputs and inadequate access to agronomic information.
But this didn’t discourage India from more GMO ventures. It attempted to commercialise Bt eggplant (brinjal, aubergine) in 2009. The clearance for Bt eggplant was met with tremendous resistance by the public, forcing the government to organise month-long public hearings across India’s major cities. A moratorium on the release of Bt eggplant was finally imposed in 2010. In its 2012 report, the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture concluded that “GM crops are just not the right solution” for India and raised various other concerns over the potential and actual impacts of GM crops to the country’s food, farming, health and environment.
But the promoters of Bt eggplant in India are not taking no for an answer and, after Bangladesh commercially released it in 2013, are trying again to seek its approval.
The attempt to commercially release GM mustard followed. In May 2017, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee recommended the approval of this herbicide-tolerant crop, resistant to Bayer’s glufosinate, which is more toxic than glyphosate. Farmers, activists, environmentalists and seeds savers came together to launch a nationwide campaign, Sarson Satyagraha (Civil Disobedience against GM Mustard), to resist its commercial release. With more than 12000 accessions of rapeseed mustard varieties and local landraces in India, GM Mustard posed a major threat to this rich biodiversity. Several attempts were made by the developers to seek commercial release but till today, GM mustard has not been approved for commercial cultivation.
Despite moratorium decisions on GM crops and parliament recommendations for stopping all open field trials, permissions are still granted for open field trials of numerous food and non-food GM crops across the country. The inability of regulatory agencies to properly monitor the field trials has given way to the contamination and illegal planting of GM crops. As reported by the Department of Biotechnology Committee, some of the illegal plantings, like the case of herbicide-tolerant cotton, were massive and have spread over 15% of the total cotton growing area in the country. There is a direct risk of this becoming the unregulated use of the highly toxic glyphosate herbicide, leading to the spread and rise of super weeds, as well as to the contamination of soil and water.
But GMO are being pushed through all fronts in India. In 2018, a study found large-scale illegal presence and sale of GM imported foods in the country, which included infant food, edible oil and packaged snacks. In April 2018, India food authorities approved a draft regulation that prescribed mandatory labelling for “all food products having 5% or more GM ingredients”. This is the first time the Indian government laid down guidelines for labelling GM food. However, labelling food with 5% GM ingredients was an underhanded and illegal attempt to introduce GM food in India through the back door. A new draft of this regulation in November 2021 tightens the labelling requirement to 1% or more GM ingredients to be labelled as such.[33] But again, this draft regulation effectively de-regulates GM foods and facilitates what the US has been demanding India for years: to have unrestricted access and easy entry of GM foods in India, breaching environmental regulations and diluting food labelling requirements as directed by India’s Supreme Court.
The weakening of GMO regulations in India also opened the door to new breeding techniques, such as CRISPR, exempting these products from the GMO 1989 rules. Genome-edited plants will now be treated as any other plants. A move that has been opposed by farmers’ groups and broad civil society coalitions. The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA) and the Coalition for GM-Free India argue that there are enough cases that show that the small intended changes induced by gene editing can still result in large and dangerous consequences, such as the unexpected toxicity and allergenicity of gene-edited plants.
What is Gene Editing ?
Gene editing or genome editing covers a wide range of genetic engineering techniques used to edit parts of the genome of almost any living organism. This new biotechnology is gaining popularity and support for being considered a faster, cheaper and comparatively easy technique for genetic alteration. Most gene editing involves creating a new product by cutting or deleting very small segments of DNA, and does not necessarily involve transgenics – introducing ‘foreign’ genes from another species.
Because of this, gene editing is being claimed as non-transgenic, whereby it wouldn’t need to go through biosafety regulations. However considerable research proves that genome editing technologies and applications, clearly fall within the definition of a modified organism, whether they involve inserting, deleting or editing sequences of genomes.
Of the several techniques being used in gene editing, the most popular one is known as CRISPR. CRISPR commonly uses a type of DNA cutter called “Cas9”, which explains why it is often referred to as the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system.
People’s resistance and GMO regulation: The only alternative
In Asia the promotion and expansion of genetically modified plants and foods are being pushed hard not only by agribusiness but by public-funded institutions. Asian governments are cleverly embellishing these new GMOs in abstract language like ‘new breeding techniques’, ‘nature equivalent’, ‘similar as conventional’, ‘natural’ or ‘nature friendly’, so that these products can be exempt from key regulatory safeguards.
It is worth asking to what extent new GM techniques will be developed by public research institutions for the use and profitability of the corporate sector?
To what extent will agribusiness receive government backing, at the expense of public interests? The stiff opposition to GMOs and mobilisation from a large sector of consumers and farmers in Asia is a direct response to this.
As it has happened in the past, with the promotion of the Green Revolution, the corporate interests behind GMOs and their novel versions are being disguised as panaceas for humanity’s ills: hunger, climate change, poverty, malnutrition and more. This distraction of course suits all that elite financially benefitting on one hand from the corporate capture of our societies, and on the other from the undermining of community-controlled food systems.
Gene editing will become a proxy for usurping and bio-pirating the traditional seed heritage of farmers, and the stakes are high in Asian countries, where the majority are still dependent on their traditional seeds for sustenance. There is a growing body of scientific evidence on the unpredictable effects of gene editing techniques. When gene editing makes changes in a plant’s genome, there’s no going back. Therefore, the weakening of biosafety regulations or no regulations of certain gene editing products is a major threat not only to agroecology and sustainable farming but to the environment at large.
Recent policy shifts have positioned maize as a key resource for ethanol production, providing significant benefits to maize producers. However, this policy change has negatively impacted the Indian poultry industry, which is the largest consumer of maize. The cost of maize, a critical input for poultry, has surged dramatically, creating a challenging situation for policymakers. While maize producers gain from the new ethanol policy, the poultry sector faces rising costs. This scenario highlights the need to revisit the long-standing debate on GMO maize. Below is an overview of global GMO maize varieties and their use in Asia.
GM – Maize Varieties:
1. MON 810
2. NK 603
3. MON 863
Asia countries adopted – GM Maize:
1. Philippines – 2003
2. Vietnam – 2015
3. Pakistan – 2017
The poultry industry has been requesting the government to consider GMO maize production in India. The advantages of GMO maize are significant, and some of them are outlined below.
GM Maize – Advantages:
1. Reduce production loss due to pests
2. Reduce herbicides application
3. Better grain quality
4. Safe for both human and animal consumption
5. Maize GMO – yield increases ranging from 10 to 45% over conventional hybrids
I am curious about how our policymakers will address the poultry industry’s request to allow GMO maize in India. As major consumers of maize rather than producers, we face unique challenges. Have maize producers themselves ever advocated for GMO maize? They are already able to sell maize at competitive prices globally and stand to benefit from increased demand due to ethanol production policies. This aligns with the government’s objectives, doesn’t it?
Therefore, it is crucial for the poultry industry to align with maize producers on the introduction of GMO maize in India. The advantages of GMO maize are well-documented and supported by science. Without GMO maize, the demand-supply gap will likely widen, leading to further price increases. However, it remains uncertain whether the full benefit of higher prices will reach the maize producers, given the commodity nature of maize.
Policymakers’ concerns, such as food security, potential monopolies by multinational corporations on seeds, and crop diversity, need to be thoroughly addressed in this context.
Under the above the suggested action plan to introduce GMO may be as follows
Action Plan:
Engage maize producers’ country wide
Suggest distribution of GMO Maize seed through government agencies
Highlight GMO Maize advantages
Suggested Initiatives:
All Poultry associations engage maize producers with a constructive dialogue, have a broad-based consensus and appeal to the union Government for allowing usage of GMO Maize.
Given that GMO decisions can be complex and time-consuming due to the involvement of multiple stakeholders and possibly the PMO, it’s understandable that progress may be slow. However, I am confident that the united efforts of the ‘Maize Action Group’ will lead to success in the mid to long term.
Concerns or Risks about the use of GM technologies:
1. Food security – monopoly of MNCs in Food chain supply.
2. Genetic perturbations leading to the production of unintended compounds, new disease.
India has recently taken proactive steps with GMO cotton, and GMO mustard is currently under active consideration. Therefore, the author proposes a broad consultation involving all stakeholders, including maize producers, poultry associations, and the Government of India, to move forward with a prudent decision on GMO maize that benefits everyone.
What is Bt Maize?
Bacillus thuringiensis is a species of bacteria that produces proteins that are toxic to certain insects. Because of this, it has been used as a safe microbial insecticide for over 50 years to control pest caterpillars. Bt insecticides are popular with organic farmers because they are considered “natural insecticides” and they differ from most conventional insecticides because they are toxic to only a small range of related insects. This is because specific pH levels, enzymes, and midgut receptors are required to activate and bind a given Cry toxin to midgut cells, which leads to pore formation in the insect’s intestine and death (Federici 2002). A “lock and key” analogy is useful to explain this specificity. If the midgut receptor is considered the “lock” and the Cry protein is the “key” then insect death only occurs when the “lock and key” match.
There are a number of Cry toxins that are categorized by their spectrum of activity. For maize pests, primary Cry proteins are Cry1 and Cry2 for Lepidoptera and Cry3 proteins for Coleoptera (Schnepf et al. 1998). Maize can be genetically engineered to produce these specific Cry toxins. As such, aspects of Bt maize are similar to host plant resistance traits such as DIMBOA (2,4-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-1,4-benzoxazin-3-one), which at high levels reduces damage by European corn borer (Klun et al. 1967). Seed providers often combine or stack traits for Lepidoptera and Coleoptera control into the same plant. Also, different types of Bt toxins targeted for the same insects are often combined into more effective plant protectants called pyramids. This multiple toxin approach is useful for managing insect resistance to Bt maize.
Why is Bt Maize Popular with Growers?
Growers are attracted to the convenience of Bt maize hybrids because they allow for “in the bag” insect protection. GE maize seed comes from the seller with innate pest resistance. Functionally, this means that growers will be handling and applying fewer chemical insecticides, which has both health benefits for the growers and important environmental benefits. It also of course means farmers can spend less time applying insecticides but still be confident in the protection of their crop from key pests. Furthermore, growers are attracted to the yield protection and improved grain quality commonly found with Bt maize. Interestingly, due to the introduction of Bt maize, recent research suggests there has been an areawide suppression of European corn borer populations (Hutchison et al. 2010). This is beneficial to both Bt and non-Bt maize growers.
Reduced Use of Insecticides
Bt maize offers both economic and environmental advantages and grower responses indicate an awareness of both types of these benefits. Many growers cite unique opportunities to protect yield and reduce handling (and use) of insecticides to explain their rapid adoption of Bt maize (Pilcher et al. 2002). Brookes and Barfoot (2010) estimated that from 1996 to 2008 the cumulative decrease in insecticide active ingredient (a.i.) use on Bt maize was 35% (29.9 million kg) globally. Much of the reduction in insecticide a.i. was probably due to coleopteran-active Bt maize, as insecticides used against Diabrotica spp. comprise 25–30% of the global total in maize (James 2003, Rice 2004).
Protected Yields
Historically, growers had difficulty controlling corn borers because insecticides are not effective after larvae have tunneled into the stalk. One entomologist called corn borers “silent thieves” because stalk tunneling and ear injury often reduced yields 5-10 percent or more with many growers not even noticing. When entomologists started to experiment with Bt maize in the early 1990s, many were astounded that the plants were nearly “bullet proof” to corn borer injury. Previously plant breeders were able to increase host plant resistance, but none of these plants were “bullet proof”. Not surprisingly, growers that use Bt maize often see higher yields due to this reduced insect injury (Gómez-Barbero et al. 2008).
Improved Grain Quality
Another benefit of Bt maize is reduced occurrence of ear molds (Figure 1b). Because insect damage provides a site for infection by molds, Bt-protected maize can have lower levels of toxins produced by molds (i.e., mycotoxins), especially fumonisin and deoxynivalenol (Dowd 2000, Munkvold et al. 1999). Consequences of contamination with mold may be serious, as fumonisins can cause fatal leukoencephalomalacia in horses, pulmonary edema in swine, and cancer in laboratory rats. Economic analysis suggests that USA farmers save $23 million annually through reduced mycotoxins (Wu et al. 2004) and mycotoxin reduction also could be a significant health benefit in other parts of the world where maize is a diet staple (Wu 2006).
Why is Bt Maize Not Accepted by Some People?
Detractors of Bt maize suggest several challenges, including the potential for effects on non-target organisms and gene flow between Bt maize and non-Bt maize, to outweigh any benefits. Other issues to consider include whether insect resistance to Bt toxins can be managed, and whether the use of Bt maize is compatible with the other pest control methods.
Edited & Compiled by-Team LITD
