‘There is no zero risk in agriculture'; biotech is a necessity

Mr Clive James, who is the Founder and Chairman of ISAAA (International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications) is a strong votary of biotechnology in agriculture. He says biotechnology is not a panacea for the food problems of the world. It, he emphatically says, is a necessity. Mr James was in Hyderabad to address a global meet, on Demystifying crop biotechnology – issues and concepts for mass media, recently. In an interview, he talks on the growth prospects for biotech in agriculture, challenges and on the concerns about the safety of genetically modified (GM) food.

You are arguing that biotech crops are a must to feed the world but there have been widespread apprehensions about their safety. How do you explain?

There is no zero risk in agriculture. This holds good for conventional crops as well. But biotech maize and papaya have been introduced in countries such as the US and China. BT maize, in fact, showed reduced levels of micro toxins.

You have seen reports of people getting killed after consuming food with E.coli in Germany. That is conventional technology.

I can tell you that there is no suggestion of any health risk (in biotech food).

But regulatory framework that governs biotech crops is very weak, particularly in developing countries. People are more concerned about this. How to ensure fool-proof supervision of trials?

Regulation has been there in the last 15 years to guide the growth of biotech crops. In the beginning scientists had asked whether it poses a risk. But evidence shows that it is safe. We have to use 15 years of experience (in building regulation). We need to have simple and responsible regulations. About 1,000 people are dying every hour due to hunger and malnutrition. Countries like India need biotech in agriculture.

Resistance is fast building up to technology. Also, utter disregard in sparing space for refugia too is a concern. This results in contamination and increase prospects of development of resistance.

Refugia are just one element of managing resistance. It has been 15 years of biotech in maize and cotton and resistance has not broken down yet. Also, resistance is not a problem that is limited to biotech crops. We need to use new genes that back up.

How do you see biotech in agriculture growing in the next few years particularly in the light of growing opposition from some sections?

You need to have biotech crops in order to feed the world. By 2050, the world would have nine billion people. The next five years would witness much faster growth of biotech crops. Indications show that the number of countries that adopted biotech in commercial agriculture would grow to 40-42 by 2015 from the present 29. Growth would more accentuated in developing countries in Asia and Africa.

Potential is quite huge. Maize, soybean, cotton and canola collectively represented 150 million hectares of biotech crops last year. There is a scope to reach out to 150 million more hectares.

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