Biotechnology as a tool for improved Biotechnology as a tool for improved agricultural productivity as a result of agricultural productivity as a result of

climate change and solution to climate change and solution to reduced global warming due to reduced global warming due to

agricultural activitiesagricultural activities

Maurice E. Oyoo,Maurice E. Oyoo,* Muniu FK and Kibet PK

mauriceoyoo464@gmail.commauriceoyoo464@gmail.com

K. A. R. I. K. A. R. I. (Kenya)(Kenya)

IntroductionIntroduction

Source: Stern Review on the economics of climate change, HM Treasury, 2006

Fig.1. Projected impacts to climate change

Its warned that temperatures could increase by 2 to 3 deg in the next 50 years with devastating effects

Intro cont…Intro cont…

Time 1950 1999 2050

World population (billions) 2 6 8

People fed per hectare (no.) 2 4 5

Cultivated land area/person (ha.)

0.45 0.25 0.15

Adapted from FAO, world bank 2003

Table 1. The world population projection

The devastating effects from climate change are predicted amid

Growing world populationReduced arable land area

Intro cont…Intro cont…

Traits that can be considered for adaptation in climate change environment

Heat toleranceWater-use efficiency (WEMA)Nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE)Early vigour Waterlogging toleranceSalt tolerance Pest and disease resistance Early bulking in root and tuber crops

Intro cont…Intro cont…CO2, light, temp and H2O are critical for plant growth and are related to climate.

Intro cont…Intro cont…Currently, 852 million people suffer from malnutrition while 1.3 billion are afflicted by poverty in developing countries

Solution: double food production sustainable on same land area (1.5 billion ha) by 2050

Through: adopting new farming technologies to cope with declining crop yield to ensure food security

JustificationJustification Plant breeders are now able to use molecular

biology techniques to identify genes conferring particularly characteristics in advance of crossing plants

Eliminates the need for expensive and unreliable field testing

Reduces the time required to develop a new crop for a changing environment

Despite the relevance/importance of biotechnology to sustainable development…………….

Improved crop productivity and incomeRestore higher annual genetic gains to increase crop

productivityEnhance quality and nutritionincreased crop value ($2.5 to 3.0 billion in 2003)

Protect BiodiversityDouble crop production on same area of land

Save the forests biodiversity, 13m ha loss/ yearEnvironmental safety Impacts

Reduce need for external inputs-Pesticides-Potential to save 50% or 30,000mt in cotton alone . The accumulative reduction in pesticides for the period 1996 to 2004 was estimated at 172 500 MT of active ingredient, which is equivalent to a 14% reduction in the associated environmental impact of pesticide use on IT crops

Africa is still lagging behind in biotech field

Rank Country Area (million

hectares)

Biotech Crops

1* USA # 57.7 Soybean, maize, cotton, canola, squash, papaya, alfalfa 2* Argentina# 19.1 Soybean, maize, cotton 3* Brazil 15 Soybean, cotton 4* Canada # 7 Canola, maize, soybean 5* India 6.2 Cotton 6* China 3.8 Cotton, tomato, poplar, petunia, papaya, sweet pepper 7* Paraguay 2.6 Soybean

8* South Africa# 1.8 Maize, soybean, cotton 9* Uruguay 0.5 Soybean, maize 10* Philippines # 0.3 Maize 11* Australia# 0.1 Cotton 12* Spain 0.1 Maize 13* Mexico # 0.1 Cotton, soybean 14 Colombia # <0.1 Cotton, carnation 15 Chile# <0.1 Maize, soybean, canola 16 France <0.1 Maize 17 Honduras # <0.1 Maize 18 Czech Republic <0.1 Maize 19 Portugal <0.1 Maize 20 Germany <0.1 Maize 21 Slovakia <0.1 Maize 22 Romania <0.1 Maize 23 Poland <0.1 Maize

*-13 biotech mega- countries g rowing 50,000 hectares, or more, of biotech crops #- Deploying stacked products containing two or three traits with multiple benefits. Source: Clive James, 2007.

Table 2: Leading world producers of GM foods

ObjectiveObjective To enhance/share knowledge and

awareness among biotechnology stake holders on the importance of biotech in light of:

Rapid increase in global populationDiminishing available arable landDeclining crop yield as a result of

climate changeNeed for higher yielding crop

varieties with limited input needs

Biotechnology and climate change Biotechnology and climate change related stresses related stresses

On drought, GM oilseed rape and maize that tolerate water shortages are in field tests in the US

Advocates of GM crops defend the technology that heat tolerant and salt-tolerant varieties can play an important role in adapting to global warming

Some of the important traits in developing a crop with tolerance to water stress may either include: 1). Long coleoptiles: 2). Root architecture: 3). Early vigour 4). Increasing stem-stored carbohydrates: 5). Stay-green

The first biotech maize varieties with drought tolerance are expected to be commercialized by around 2011

Heat stress, depends on heat intensity, duration and rate of increase in temperature

At the molecular level, heat shock proteins (HSPs) under the control of heat stress transcription factors could be altered

Biotechnology and climate change related Biotechnology and climate change related stresses-cont..stresses-cont..

Also Ca2+dependent signalling phytohormones eg. abscisic acid, salicylic acid and ethylene could be of interest

Waterlogging typically results in wheat and cotton crops losses of between 10–50%

GM cotton lines that contain genes derived from Arabidopsis have been developed in Australia that are expected to enhance tolerance to waterlogging

Biotechnology and climate change related Biotechnology and climate change related stresses-cont..stresses-cont..

GM IR crops esp. cotton and maize have been widely adopted, with 20 M ha grown worldwide in 2006

Plus, 22 M ha of GM crops with combined IR and HT traits were grown In Australia, GM IR cotton accounts for around 90 % of cotton production Nearly all of the commercially released GM IR crops have been modified with cry genes from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). A number of GM disease-resistant crops have been approved for commercial production in the world. Eg. potato varieties resistant to potato Y virus and potato leafroll virus in US and Canada

Agriculture currently accounts for about 25% of GHG emissions.

Agriculture accounts for 14% of CO2 emission, methane (CH4) (48%) and nitrous oxide (N2O) (52%)

Implementing sustainable agricultural practices is therefore important

GMOs help decrease the necessity and frequency of spraying and tillage.

GM HT and IR Crops : maize, cotton, soybean, canola, sugar beet and grain sorghum hybrids have been developed reducing fuel used by farmers when they spray pesticides and herbicides on their fields, saving in CO2 emissions

Biotechnology and greenhouse gas Biotechnology and greenhouse gas reduction conserved farming systemsreduction conserved farming systems

Each litre of tractor diesel consumed contributes an estimated 2.75 kg of CO2 into the atmosphereThe fuel savings associated with making fewer spray runs (relative to conventional crops) has resulted in permanent savings in CO2 emissionsIn 2005 this amounted to approx. 962 M kg ( 356 ML fuel reduction). 1996 - 2005 the cumulative permanent reduction is approx. 4,613 M kg of CO2 (1,679 ML fuel reduction). The adoption of NT or RT systems in respect of fuel use results in reductions of CO2 emissions of 89.44 kg/ha and 40.43 kg/ha respectively

Biotechnology greenhouse gas reduction Biotechnology greenhouse gas reduction conserved farming systems cont…conserved farming systems cont…

Tillage system Tractor fuel consumption (Litre/ha)

Traditional cultivation: mouldboard plough, disc and seed planting etc.

46.65

Conservation cultivation (RT): chisel plough, disc and seed planting

28.83

No-till (NT) (fertilizer knife, seed planting plus 2 sprays: pre-plant burn down and post-emergent)

14.12

Table 3. Tractor fuel consumption by tillage method

Source: “GM crops: global socio-economic and environmental impacts 1996-2006,” Barfoot, P. and Brookes, G (2008).

SummarySummaryBy adopting more sustainable management practices, agriculture plays a large part in enhancing soil carbon sequestrationOne way is by reducing conventional tillageBy leaving at least 30% of residue on the soil surface, NT reduces the loss of CO2 from agricultural systems and reduces evaporative water loss from soilsIn 2007, the NT area nearly doubled in the US a 5-fold increase was recorded in Argentina, with GM Roundup Ready soybean estimated to account for 95% on the NT soybean area. Soil carbon sequestered since 1996 is equivalent to 63,859 M Ton of CO2 that has not been released into the global atmosphere because of adoption of GM HT crops

Crop/trait/country

Permanent CO2 savings arising from reduced fuel use (million kg of CO2)

Average family car equivalents removed from the road for a year from the permanent fuel savings

Potential additional soil carbon sequestration savings (million kg of CO2)

Average family car equivalents removed from the road for a year from the potential additional soil carbon sequestration

US: GM HT soybeans

245 108,877 4,064 1,806,345

Argentina: GMHT soybeans

659 293,094 6,994 3,108,408

Other countries: GM HT soybeans

77 34,091 813 361,547

Canada: GM HT canola

136 60,541 1,677 745,304

Global GM IR cotton

98 43,582 0 0

Total 1,215 540,186 13,549 6,021,604

Table 4. Context of carbon sequestration impact 2006: car equivalents

Source: GM crops: global socio-economic and environmental impacts 1999-2006. Bafoot, P and Brookes, G (2008).

Biotechnology and reduced fertilzer useBiotechnology and reduced fertilzer useN2O has a global warming potential of 296, about 300

more than CO2

N2O stays in the atmosphere for more than 100 years

GM rice and canola that uses N more efficiently (NUE) already developed

NUE technology produces plants with yields that are equivalent to conventional varieties but which require significantly less N fertilizer

In Kenya, NUE maize is on trial stages

Biotechnology and Pest and disease surveillance Biotechnology and Pest and disease surveillance in a changing climatein a changing climate

Biotech tools ( ELISA and PCR) can be used to detect and identify new and emerging pathogens that may have a stronger ability to establish and spread, or to become more abundant under changed climatic conditions

Commercial ELISA kits are available for many viruses, bacteria and fungi

GM crop (Research &Development)

Major global players

1 Monsanto 2 Syngenta 3 Aventis 4 CropScience5 Dupont

Developing countries with significant programs

1 Brazil2 Argentina3 China4 India,5 Malaysia6 Philippines

Leader countries in Africa1 South Africa 2 Zimbabwe 3 Kenya 4 Nigeria 5 Mali 6 Egypt7 Uganda

Countries with potential and/or engaged research1 Ghana 11 Kenya*2 Malawi 12 Mauritius3 Mali 13 Morocco*4 Niger 14 Namibia5 Nigeria 15 Senegal*6 South Africa 16 Tanzania*7 Benin* 17 Tunisia8 Burkina Faso* 18 Uganda9 Cameroon 19 Zambia*

10 Egypt* 20 Zimbabwe*

*Field trials conducted

Agricultural Biotechnology Focus in AfricaAgricultural Biotechnology Focus in Africa

Improved crop quality or HT or IT

Food insecurity

Growing poverty

Inadequate nutrition

Declining public agricultural research budgets and capacity

Africa’s receptiveness to GM Africa’s receptiveness to GM Crops shaped by concerns aboutCrops shaped by concerns about

ConclusionConclusionThe benefits of GM crops are diverse and already proven relevant to developing countries as they are far less labour-intensive and simplified method of farming whilst at the same time providing a higher crop yield of upto 40%Presently, the developing countries primarily benefiting from GM crops are situated in Asia and South America. Of the 50 countries listed by the UN as least developed countries, 35 are in Africa: need to increase agricultural productivity in Africa with the realization that agriculture accounts for 70% of full time employment, contributes to 33% of the total GDP and 40% of the total export earningsThe Green Revolution of 1960s had little benefit in African as it required large scale upfront investments. GM crops are knowledge intensive as opposed to capital/labour intensive thus small-scale farmers with limited resources are able to make use of this technology esp now that climate change is here with us

AcknowledgementAcknowledgement

Much gratitude to AdaptAfrica Climate Change Symposium organizers

Director KARI

Thank Thank youyou

for listening!!for listening!!