Technological applications in agriculture have evolved substantially to increase crop yields and quality to meet global food demand. Conventional techniques, such as seed saving, selective breeding, and mutation breeding (variation breeding), have dramatically increased crop production, especially during the ‘Green Revolution’ in the 1990s. However, newer issues, such as limited arable lands, climate change, and ever-increasing food demand, pose challenges to agricultural production and threaten food security. In the following ‘Gene Revolution’ era, rapid innovations in the biotechnology field provide alternative strategies to further improve crop yield, quality, and resilience towards biotic and abiotic stresses. These innovations include the introduction of DNA recombinant technology and applications of genome editing techniques, such as transcription activator-like effector (TALEN), zinc-finger nucleases (ZFN), and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR associated (CRISPR/Cas) systems. However, the acceptance and future of these modern tools rely on the regulatory frameworks governing their development and production in various countries. Herein, we examine the evolution of technological applications in agriculture, focusing on the motivations for their introduction, technical challenges, possible benefits and concerns, and regulatory frameworks governing genetically engineered product development and production.

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Pandemik COVID-19 mendatangkan kesan langsung kepada jaminan keselamatan makanan di Malaysia menerusi pelbagai cara. Kajian ini dilaksanakan bertujuan untuk menganalisa sejauh manakah implikasi pandemik COVID-19 terhadap keselamatan bekalan makanan dari beberapa aspek utama iaitu gangguan dalam rantai bekalan global dan domestik, peningkatan beban fiskal dan hutang negara, serta penggunaan teknologi dan kepakaran. Kajian dilaksanakan menggunakan data sekunder daripada laporan berautoriti, dokumen kerajaan, surat khabar, webinar, serta data primer daripada perbincangan kumpulan berfokus serta temubual bersama pemain industri dan ahli pakar akademik. Dapatan kajian mendapati pandemik COVID-19 mengesani jaminan keselamatan makanan akibat daripada kenaikan harga mendadak dan gangguan bekalan input pertanian, kenaikan harga komoditi terpilih serta kekurangan atau lambakan bekalan makanan asas di pasaran. Hikmah di sebalik pandemik ini adalah semakin ramai menceburi bidang pertanian, penggunaan teknologi dan digitalisasi yang lebih meluas serta keutamaan perbelanjaan kerajaan untuk meningkatkan produktiviti pertanian tempatan.

Soil microbiome plays a significant role in soil’s ecosystem for soils to be physically and biologically healthy. Soil health is fundamental for plant growth and crops productivity. In the introduction part, the roles and dynamics of the microbial community in soils, primarily in the cycle of soil organic carbon and CO2 release and absorption, are deliberated. Next, the impact of crop management practices and climate change on the soil carbon balance are described, as well as other issues related to soil degradation, such as unbalanced nutrient recycling and mineral weathering. In response to these issues, various approaches to soil regeneration have been developed in order to foster an efficient and active soil microbiome, thereby balancing the CO2 cycle and carbon sequestration in the soil ecosystem.

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