Agriculture Biotechnology
Muhammad Royyan Fais 4401415047 Aulia Febriasari 4401415100
Introduction
Agricultural biotechnology
includes a range of tools that scientists employ to understand and
Background
Damage to plants due to pests and diseases
Environmental contamination due to excess pesticides
and herbicides
Food demand increases as population increases and
Crown Gall Disease
Agrobacterium vitis is the
primary causal agent of crown gall worldwide, determined by a large conjugal
tumor-inducing (Ti) plasmid.
However, tumorigenic and nontumorigenic strains of A. vitis may carry other
What are the new products of
agricultural biotechnology?
Herbicide tolerant
What are the new products of
agricultural biotechnology?
Insect resistant crops
What are the new products of
agricultural biotechnology?
Identity-preserved or specific-
The Green Revolution
A program of the mid and late 20th century to find a
way to produce higher quantity and quality food
Purpose was to increase crop output per unit area –
more efficient land and techniques
Began with a new breed of wheat in the 1940s that
produced 5x as much product, while resisting wind and disease.
Other LDCs followed path by planting breeds of rice
The Good and the Bad
Advantages
– Saved millions from starvation
– Can reuse cultivated land, instead of cutting down trees
to make more farmland, slowing the rate of
The Good and the Bad
Disadvantages
– Extensive use of water, fertilizers, pesticides and fossil
fuels caused pollution, salinization, and desertification
– Monoculture has decreased biodiveristy and narrowed
the human diet.
The Future of the Green Revolution
Overall food production has outpaced human
population growth, but grain crops have declined under the world’s need.
Land is less productive, therefore grains do not grow
as well
Though food security is based on distribution, it may
eventually become driven by production
Recent Issue
The FDA states on its website that “GE plant varieties marketed to date are as safe as comparable, non-GE
foods.” And after thoroughly reviewing all the available
evidence on GE crop safety, a National Academy of Sciences report concluded that “no differences have been found that implicate a higher risk to human
health and safety from these GE foods than from their
non-GE counterparts.”
That same conclusion has been reached by other
respected scientific and regulatory bodies, including the European Commission and the World Health Organization.
