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Application of Agriculture Biotechnology

Agricultural biotechnology is a range of tools that alter living organisms, to make or modify
products; improve plants or animals; or develop microorganisms for specific agricultural uses.
Modern biotechnology today includes the tools of genetic engineering. Biotechnology provides
farmers with tools that can make production cheaper and more manageable. For example, some
biotechnology crops can be engineered to tolerate specific herbicides, which make weed control
simpler and more efficient.

Genetically Modified Organisms

GMOs are plants, animals, bacteria or fungi whose genes have been modified by genetic
manipulation. Genetically modified crops or GM crops are used in the following ways: 1) They
are more tolerant to stresses such as drought, cold, heat etc. 2) They are pest-resistant and
therefore less dependent on chemical pesticides. 3) Genetically Modified crops help to reduce
post-harvest losses. 4) They help to increase the mineral usage by plants, thereby preventing
early exhaustion of soil fertility. 5) Genetically modified crops have enhanced nutritional value.
Example – Vitamin A enriched rice (Singh, 2021).

Improved Yield from Crops

Using biotechnology techniques, one or two genes may be transferred into a crop to give a new
trait to that crop. This is done in the hope of increasing its yield. However, these increases in
yield have proved to be difficult to achieve. Current genetic engineering techniques work best for
single gene effects - that is traits inherited in a simple Mendelian fashion.

Increased Nutritional Qualities of Crops

Scientists are working on modifying proteins in foods to increase their nutritional qualities. Also,
proteins in legumes and cereals may be transformed to provide all the amino acids needed by
human beings for a balanced diet (Hefferon, 2016).
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Improved Taste, Texture or Appearance of Food

Modern biotechnology can be used to slow down the process of spoilage so that fruit can ripen
longer on the plant and then be transported to the consumer with a still reasonable shelf life. In
addition to improving the taste, texture and appearance of fruit, it will also extend the usable life
of the fruit. As the world population grows and grows, this may become a fairly important issue.
Extending the life of fruit can expand the market for farmers in developing countries due to the
reduction in spoilage. This has successfully been demonstrated with the tomato. The first
genetically modified food product was a tomato which was transformed to delay its ripening.

Production of Vaccines in Crop Plants

Modern biotechnology is increasingly being applied for novel uses other than food. Banana trees
and tomato plants have been genetically engineered to produce vaccines in their fruit.

Disease-Free Plants
Disease-free plants are very practical applications of biotechnology; these could be produced by
micropropagation method. One of the examples of such plants is banana. Bananas are typically
grown in countries where they emerge to be major source of income/employment and/or food.
Micropropagation is a way to regenerate disease-free plantlets of bananas from tissues of healthy
banana plants (Ranjha et al., 2022).

Pest Resistant Plants

Pest attack is one of the very common problem in a number of different crops all around the
globe. One the example of such crops is BT-Cotton. The genes of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt),
which developmed a protein in BT-Crop. The protein is very toxic to a number of different
insects. With this aid of biotechnology, the developed BT-Cotton leads to a less pest attack.

Reduced Dependence on Fertilizers, Pesticides and Other Agrochemicals

There is growing concern regarding the use of pesticides in agriculture. Therefore, many of the
current commercial applications of modern biotechnology in agriculture are focused on reducing
the dependence of farmers on these chemicals. Toxin produced from Bacillus thuringiensis, BT
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toxin, a Gram-positive, soil-dwelling bacterium; which is used as a biological pesticide. Crop

plants have now been engineered to contain and express the genes for the Bt toxin, which they
produce in its active form. When an insect ingests the transgenic crop, it stops feeding and soon
thereafter dies as a result of the Bt toxin binding to its gut wall (Bagchi et al., 2010).

References
1. Ranjha, M. M. a. N., Shafique, B., Khalid, W., Nadeem, H. R., Mueen-ud-Din, G., & Khalid,
M. Z. (2022). Applications of Biotechnology in Food and Agriculture: a Mini-Review.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section B: Biological Sciences,
92(1), 11–15.
2. Hefferon, K. L. (2016). Food Security of Genetically Modified Foods. Reference Module in
Food Science, 5–30.
3. Singh, K. K. (2021). Genetically Modified Crops and Agricultural Innovation: An Analysis
of Law and Policy. Policy Issues in Genetically Modified Crops, 3–27.

4. Bagchi, D., Lau, F., & Ghosh, D. K. (2010). Biotechnology in functional foods and
nutraceuticals. CRC Press.