Corporate Governance @ Production(GMOs - Chicken in India)
In 2011, the percentage of Genetically Modified Organisms(GMOs) in world production stood at 83% for cotton, 75% for soya beans, 32% for corn and 26% for rapeseed. This production is the preserve of 29 countries, mainly the United States, Brazil, Argentina, India and Canada. Meanwhile, cultivation of GMOs remains forbidden in over thirty nations.
The most widely used
genetically modified animals are laboratory animals, such as the fruitfly
(Drosophila) and mice. Genetically engineered animals enable
scientists to gain an insight into basic biological animals like cows, goats
and sheep have been genetically engineered processes and the relationships
between mutations and disease.
Farm animals, such as
sheep, goats and cows, can also be genetically modified to enhance specific
characteristics. GM crops were first introduced
in the USA in 1994 with the Flavr Savr tomato, which had been genetically
modified to slow its ripening process, delaying softening and rotting.
Risks to the food web
are very real ethical concern around GM technology. Any pesticide or herbicide
could harm the animals and other organisms in the environment. GM sugar beets
that were produced to be resistant to herbicides did successfully reduce weeds.
However the skylark birds that consume the seeds from this particular weed
would now be required to find a new feed source, thereby endangering their
existence.
Some
Genetically Modified Products
Goats
that
produce milk containing an enzyme that could prevent deadly diarrhea, Cattle that
cannot get or transmit mad-cow disease, The
GM AquAdvantage salmon(Feb 2016) derived by adding a growth hormone gene
from another salmon species that can grow much faster and more efficiently and
therefore can feed more people for the same
resource inputs, Goats that produce spider silk (May 2010) which due to its strength and elasticity, spider
silk fiber could have several medical uses, such as for making artificial
ligaments and tendons, for eye sutures, and for jaw repair. The silk could also
have applications in bulletproof vests and improved car airbags, Sudden-death mosquitoes produced using a
lethal genetic modification to decrease the population of these mosquitoes, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)
crops (Corn, Cotton, tobacco etc )
and poultry injected with growth
hormone are some of the GMOs
available for commercial use in different parts of the world.
Insulin
used in medicine is an example of genetic engineering. Genes encoding human
insulin were cloned and expressed in E. coli in 1978. At
present, insulin is being produced in E.coli and the
yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae for diabetic patients (Baeshen
et al. 2014).
The
antibiotics used in livestock and poultry feeds are chlortetrachyline, procaine
penicillin, oxytetracycline, tylosin, bacitracin, neomycin sulphate,
streptomycin, erythromycin, linomycin, oleandomycin, virginamycin and
bambermycin. These are used against virus and bacteria affecting poultry. With rampant misuse of antibiotics and growth
hormones, the repercussions on human health are visible.
According
to the Federal Interagency Task Force on antimicrobial resistance, human
resistance to sulfadiazine is 100 per cent as its residues were found in
chicken and fowl. 75 per cent resistance has been recorded for streptomycin and
50 per cent for first line of antibiotics erythromycin, tobra-mycin and
ampicillin.
The Indian Poultry Market
The Indian poultry market,
consisting of broilers and eggs reached a value of INR 1,988 Billion in 2020.
Looking forward, IMARC Group expects the market to grow at a CAGR of 15.2%
during 2021-2026.
Since the start of the 2020-21 oil year (October-
September), soyabean has been trading well above its government-declared
Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 3,880 per quintal. A global shortage due to
crop failure in the main producing nations of Brazil and Argentina has
propelled an increased demand for the oilseed, which has resulted in the price
run.
Indian farmers had harvested 112.71 lakh tonne of the
oilseed in the current year of which 97.71 lakh tonne was available for
crushing. Poultry and other animal feed formulators mix 30 per cent of deoiled
cake( DOC), the protein rich solid mass left over when oil is expelled from the
seed, with 60-65 per cent maize (carbohydrate or energy component) and five per
cent minerals/vitamins to form animal feed. For bigger animals like livestock,
other deoiled cake like cotton or groundnut can be substituted for soyabean.
But for poultry feed, soyabean is the preferred protein source as birds are
able to digest it easier. Besides the domestic feed industry, Indian DOC is a
premier export commodity given its non-GM nature. On an average, India exports
12-15 lakh tonne DOC, mainly to Europe and USA.
Maize, which is one the chief sources
of feed for the broilers, was available at a cost of ₹17,000 per tonne last
year. But, the maize proposed to be imported by State trading enterprises like
National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and
Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC) in the wake of the
scarcity of indigenously grown maize, whose yield had been severely compromised
by pest attacks and drought, will cost them at least ₹23,500 per tonne.
Also,
since it is off-season in some countries like Ukraine that grow non-GM maize, the
imported maize will be delivered to them only after mid-October this year, which
is barely a fortnight before the next crop of locally grown maize is ready for
harvesting in the first week of November.
With GM maize available in abundance
globally at a relatively cheaper cost, the Karnataka Poultry Farmers and
Breeders’ Association (KPFBA) has written to MMTC to obtain permission from the
Centre to allow import of GM maize. In the letter to MMTC, the KPFBA has
assured to use GM maize only for poultry feed. “It will not be used for sowing
or human consumption,” KPFBA Executive Secretary Inayathulla Khan said in the
letter. But any decision in the matter of permitting import GM maize had to be
taken by Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) and not MMTC.
According to the general notes on
import policy available on DGFT website, the import of any food, feed, raw or
processed or any ingredient of food, food additives or any food product that
contains GM material and is being used either for industrial production,
environmental release or field application will be allowed only with the
approval of Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), set up by the Union
Ministry of Environment and Forests.
Justifying its demand for GM maize,
the poultry industry said India has already permitted import of chicken from
the U.S., where the birds are fed on GM maize and soya. India began allowing
import of chicken from the U.S. after a ruling to the effect at World Trade
Organization (WTO). The poultry industry in Bengaluru has questioned how
different it is to allow import of feed grade GM maize when the country has
already permitted the import of U.S. chicken that is bred on GM maize and soya.
Also, the residue from GM cottonseed oil has long been used as a feed for not
only chicken, but also cattle and fish, the industry argued.
Kavita Kuruganti of the Alliance for
Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture maintains that the adverse
health impact on animals bred on GM food should serve as an early warning to
people on consuming chicken fed with GM maize. There was already evidence to
suggest that ‘backyard’ rearing of chicken was far better than the practices
adopted by the commercial poultry industry.
Meanwhile, Krishna Prasad, Director,
Sahaja Samrudha, an organic farmers’ collective operating across Karnataka,
said the poultry industry’s demand for importing GM maize not only poses a
threat to chicken consumers, but also the maize farmers.
Mr. Prasad, also an anti-GM crusader, argued that the
import of GM maize will lead to a slump in demand for indigenously grown maize,
which will in turn affect maize farmers, who are found in large numbers across
the State, particularly in Mysuru and Chamarajnagar regions.
According the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
there are 795 million people (more than 10% of
the world population) who are chronically undernourished. This includes 161
million children, of which 3.1 million die from hunger
each year.
In most cases, farmers who use GMO
technologies do so to increase productivity, either by increasing production
yields (minimising pest-related losses), or financial returns (reducing labour
or the use of specific phytosanitary products). In 2014, an analysis of 147
studies carried out around the world over the previous 20 years stated that “on
average, GM technology adoption has reduced chemical pesticide use by 37%,
increased crop yields by 22%, and increased farmer profits by 68%” (Klumper,
2014).
In 2015, a majority of European
Union countries decided to block the cultivation of eight new types of GMO
pending new data and approval from regulatory bodies. Nonetheless, the European
Union remains the greatest user of GMOs: 30 million tonnes of genetically
modified soya beans and corn are required for animal feed every year.
In 2015, GM crops were grown in 28 countries and on 179.7
million hectares – that is over 10% of the world’s arable land and equivalent
to seven times the land area of the UK. The USA, Brazil and Argentina are the
leading producers. There are currently no GM crops being grown commercially in
the UK although scientists are carrying out controlled trials.
Questions
1. What are Genetically Modified Products. Is it ethical to genetically modify farm animals/plants for any purpose?
2. GM chicken poses health hazards and so not to be allowed. Do you agree? Substantiate your argument
3. Healthy Food for humans necessitates the need for protection against diseases and pests that are harmful to his needs. Quality & Quantity matter in the market. Analyse from the Business Ethics angle and comment.
4. What Corporate Governance could be observed by companies engaged in production and marketing of GM products? What rolw govt. can play in this area?
References
1. https://www.imarcgroup.com/indian-poultry-market
4.
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