A New Crop Of Solutions

Are genetically modified crops the answer to looming climate change-induced food shortages?

- Anjali Thomas

Under the glare of white and yellow tube lights are rows of seedlings in petri dishes neatly laid out on metal shelves. With their frail shoots holding on to a few tiny green leaves that are half the size of a thumbnail, they look nothing like ‘Frankenfood’ or ‘Frankenstein food’, as they are called by those who oppose what scientists have done to them.

It’s possible that one of these seedlings, either of rice or wheat, has the genetic trait to withstand extended drought, another to use water more effectively, a third may reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At the Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company (Mahyco) laboratories in Jalna, Maharashtra, these have been subjected to careful genetic engineering to give them traits that may not be possible by traditional plant breeding. And if they fulfill their potential, they could well grow into a new generation of crops that can withstand climate change.

Advanced DNA sequencing technology and precision tools that can insert a foreign gene in targeted spots on another plant’s chromosome has made it possible for private enterprises and research institutes to develop seeds that address the problems that countries like India are facing because of climate change.

With unpredictable rainfall, increasing number of hot days and high salinity levels that can decimate crops, private companies, non-profit organisations such as the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) and autonomous institutes like The Indian Institute of Horticultural Research are looking at ways to make stronger and more productive seeds.