The role of biotechnology in agricultural production and food supply

Abstract

A. Cano, D. Díaz and C. Morgado. 2017. The role of biotechnology in agricultural production and food supply. Cien. Inv. Agr.44(1): 1-11. Over the past several decades, technological developments and modernization have grown concomitantly.For example, advances in biotechnology have been used as a tool to increase food production. Specifically, advances in genetic engineering have made possible the manipulation of crops to increase yield, guaranteeing food supplies for the increasing world population. However, transgenic crops have not been well received by all members of society, and there is still uncertainty about their social benefits and the possible implications to human health. Additionally, the benefits of agricultural modernization have favored only developed countries, whereas people living in developing and underdeveloped countries suffer rampant hunger, malnutrition and poverty. Hence, there is a necessity to create policies guaranteeing that the advances in biotechnology are translated into better agricultural practices that can meet the ever-growing food demand. The agricultural modernization process, however, must consider that sustainable development is imperative in modern societies and that there is an increasing desire for consuming so-called organic foods based on the idea that these foods have a higher quality and stimulate regional agricultural production. This review discusses the role of biotechnology throughout history in relation to agricultural production and the development of the food sector.

Scienciometric outlook of the biotechnology in the agricultural and agroindustrial sector

“…The focus of this study was the quantitative analysis and research and technological trends in the area of Biotechnology in agriculture and agro-industry. Despite international comparisons, the current study indicated a notable increase in the number of publications and patents at the international level in recent years, because, in the agricultural and agricultural sector, biotechnology has played an important role in sustainability of production [53], through the development of technologies that promote conserving soil characteristics, increasing crop productivity and increasing pest resistance [54].…”

Trend of Biotechnology Applications in Pest Management: A Review

“…According to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, 1992), the term 'biotechnology' means "any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use." Biotechnology can be considered as a series of enabling technologies, which each involve the elucidation and manipulation of living organisms (plants and pests) or their subcellular components to develop useful products, processes and services (Lebeda and Pokorný, 2012;Cano et al, 2017). The technologies are among the most exciting, cutting-edge applications of contemporary biological sciences which include DNA based characterization of plants and pests, plant tissue and cell cultures, monoclonal antibody production, molecular breeding techniques, recombinant DNA technology and/or genetic engineering, bioprocess engineering, and bioinformatics (Fermin-Munoz et al, 2000;Gianessi et al, 2003).…”

“…Meta-analysis of 147 studies during the past 20 years on Soybean, Maize, Cotton: multitude of benefits revealed that the use of GMO reduced pesticides use by 37%, increased yields by 22%, increased farmer profits by 68% (Klümper and Qaim, 2014).Various review reports showed the role of biotechnology in food security (Abah et al, 2010;Tonukari and Omotor, 2010;Najaf and Lee, 2014;Cano et al, 2017;Gartland and Gartland, 2018) and in sustainable development (Sharad et al, 2010;Adenle, 2015;Björnberg et al, 2015). Similarly, the contribution of GMO in food security has been reviewed by several scholars (Qaim and Kouser, 2013;Lamichhane, 2014;Hallerman and Grabau, 2016;Ouyang et al, 2017;Raman, 2017;Repalli, 2017;Smyth 2017;Gartland and Gartland, 2018;Terefe, 2018).…”

“…Biotechnology can also help conduct organic food production. Thus, organic farming can be achieved with the use of biotechnological tools (Dubey, 2014;Cano et al, 2017;Taheri et al, 2017). In this regard pest management (Brzozowski and Mazourek, 2018), durable molecular breeding (Gheysen and Custers, 2017) are also useful for organic farming.…”

Applications of Biotechnology for Characterization of Plants and Pests as the Key Components of Plant Protection and Production Strategies: A Review

“…Biotechnological tools have been extensively utilized for the characterization and conservation of plant genetic resources for ensuring their sustainable conservation and utilization for enhancing the bioeconomy (Ruane and Sonnino, 2006;Laurentin 2009;Misra and Srivastava, 2016;Singh, 2016;Liu et al, 2017). The review of Cano et al (2017) revealed that the increasing recognition of biotechnology as an economic and social growth factor has stimulated governments in several countries to provide financial support to their local biotechnology institutions/companies to foster research, development, and commercialization of products and services. On the other hand, projections of malnutrition, famine, unmanageable pests (regular, invasive, migratory, transboundary) and unresolved environmental problems, climate changes, abiotic factors [water (drought/flooding), temperature (chlling/frost or heat), salts (high salinity or mineral deficiency)] have boosted biotechnological innovations and breakthroughs that resulted in the improvement of the quality of products and services provided by R and D institutions/companies.…”