Biotechnology: The Tool to Carve a Healthy Future of Plants and Animals.

Biotechnology: The Tool to Carve a Healthy Future of Plants and Animals.It is a well known fact that food nutrition is plays a crucial role in maintaining our overall physical well being. It is imperative that we pay attention to the foods we eat as they impact our health. 

 The consequences, for better or for worst, are controlled by the diet we intake and the kind of nutritional aspects we follow. Thanks to the advancement in biotechnology, we now have better understanding of the benefits of every particular food group than ever before.

Scientists develop groundnut resistant to aflatoxin.

Scientists develop groundnut resistant to aflatoxin. The discovery has the potential to drastically improve food safety and reduce losses caused by the contamination from the poisonous carcinogen, aflatoxin. 

The discovery was recently published in the Plant Biotechnology Journal. Aflatoxins pose a major risk to human and animal health worldwide and result in an enormous amount of food waste. 

The molds, Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus, which infect groundnut, maize, cottonseed and chilly, produce these toxins which suppress the immune system, hinder growth in children and even cause liver cancer. The fungus which produces these toxins can stay dormant in soil for years. It infects maize and groundnut during drought and heat stress. 

 Contamination also happens when grain is stored in hot, humid and poorly-ventilated conditions. Since aflatoxins are potent carcinogens, the United States does not allow the sale and export of food with aflatoxin levels exceeding 20 parts per billion (ppb). European Union standards are more stringent; the bar is 2 ppb.

Biotechnology will aid sustainable agricultural production in Nigeria.

Biotechnology will aid sustainable agricultural production in Nigeria. 

Benjamin Ubi, the President, Biotechnology Society of Nigeria (BSN), says the adoption of biotechnology will facilitate sustainable agricultural production in the country. The benefits of biotechnology in agriculture cannot be over emphasized as the task of feeding the estimated 9 billion people by 2050 will require innovative strategies and techniques. 

Biotechnology in animal husbandry and agriculture will boost food production and sustainability. Food security can be achieved on a global scale if production processes are subjected to improved stock using genetically proven animals. The way to harness the advantages in using genetically proven lines include; selective breeding,rearing and cross breeding to develop strains/lines that can produce more in the desired country. The use of biotechnology in food security cannot be overemphasized as the introduction of biotech to food production is of immense benefits. 

Biotechnology.

The springing up of bio crops allows farming even in areas where there is much pressure on the land,thus availing the urban farmer an opportunity to participate in food security. Biotechnology making better crops and livestock by careful selection of traits to increase yield,produce disease and pest resistance and drought resistance products. 

This entails a collection of specific technique to improve plant and animals. Bio technology enhances breeders ability to make improvement in crops and livestock,this is achieved through various techniques used to improve plants and animals. Bio technology use gene modification,genetic improvement and genetic engineering.

Crops improved with transferred DNA referred to as genetic improvement have been developed to aid farmers to increase productivity . 

 Biotechnology holds the key to food security with higher yield and better products Genetic modification/genetic improvement/genetic engineering; refers to the process where there is transfer of useful characteristics into plants and animals. 

This process allows transfer of specific traits to plants or animals to produce improved and better breeds and strains that grow faster,bigger and most importantly resistant to diseases. more

#biotechnology #foodsecurity #biotech

FOOD SECURITY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH.

Food security basically exists when all people in a country/community at all times have both physical and economic access to sufficient food to meet their dietary needs for a productive and healthy life style.

 The education /awareness of people as to how to combine various crops to produced balanced meals and the availability of resources to procure these crops is a vital point in food security. The agricultural aspect is rightly divided into crops and animal production.The processing,packaging and preservation of these products ensure food security.

The development of various strategies ensure that supply of food are continuous with plenty in reserve and much more to export.The various strategies can be utilized to ensure food security in the various agricultural chain. 

 1) The education of the women play a vital role in food security since they are involved in various stages of production,the importance of family planning and other health related issues are paramount.

The careful planning of family,will limit the number of mouths to feed,thus reducing the risk of death associated with multiple pregnancies. 

Women should be educated about reproductive issues,money making ventures and the impact of food on economic growth.

 2) introduction of bio crops, which are better varieties and strains of common seeds that they are used to, this will shorten harvest time and produce higher yield of crops. 

 3) The use of composting as a means of waste management, which results in good quality fertilizer 

. 4) The waste management can be further utilized to produce electricity which will save overhead cost. 5) irrigation in arid regions is also another strategy, where rain water ,waste water can be collected,treated and plowed back to the farm to aid production.

 6)newer and better animal strains can be synchronized and bred resulting in large litter sizes,bigger sized animals. 

 7) biotechnology using aeroponics/hydroponics is a major route to ensure food security. v

BIO CROP # BIOTECHNOLOGY.

Food crops derived from agricultural biotechnology are referred to as bio crops.Farmers all over the world are turning to bio technology to produce food,fruits and vegetables. The advantages of biotechnology over conventional farming are enormous ;these include production of more disease resistant strains of crops within a short time, the process is environmental friendly because pesticides are not used,this also ensures food safety as there is no pesticide residue on the products. Biotechnology also prevents health hazard in farmers as there is no exposure to chemicals used in conventional farming, the crops produced are of higher nutritional value,better flavor and most of all the productivity is high which makes it a tool for food security. Bio technology is safe and does not cause any ecological damaged.Crops that are developed are such that they breed out undesirable traits.Farmers are turning to biotechnology so that they can grow plants that yield more per acre and resistant to diseases and insect pest while reducing production cost. Agricultural biotechnology is a key to eradicate poverty and hunger/malnutrition in the world,according to UN food and agricultural organization there is an estimated world population of 9.1 billion in 2050,this will require enhanced production and productivity of food. The new methods of farming with innovative use of technology is the key to sustainable food production. Change is the only constant thing...........welcome to a new age of food production. BIO CROPS# BIOTECHNOLOGY.

BIO TECHNOLOGY FOR FOOD SUSTAINABILITY.

Biotechnology is one of the various ways of using scientific principles and techniques to produce crops that are pure strains and resistant to diseases. Biotechnology,nanotechnology,genetic engineering are all scientific interventions to produce better crops,improve plants,animals and microorganisms to enhance their value.

 The world today is faced with population explosion; the growth of the population is not at the same rate as food production and processing leaving most developing countries on poverty threshold and food scarcity. The world now is looking at strategies for food security and sustainability to eliminate hunger and eradicate poverty.

 Biotechnology has actually shown great potential to achieve food security in the agricultural sector where it has been used to develop plant strains that are resistant to pests and diseases. Biotechnology has also been employed to improve food processing,nutritional value better flavor and productivity of plants,vegetables and other food crops.

 Agric biotechnology is the use of scientific techniques to modify and improve crops by selective breeding. Advances in science especially in the field of molecular biology has provided scientist with ability to manipulate food at molecular level referred to as genetic engineering.The technique employed in genetic engineering is the transfer of DNA from species with specific desired traits into distantly related organisms.

 Genetic engineering allows the transfer of one or more traits from specific organism,plants,animals and microorganism and introduce them to new strains to come up with genetically modified strains with better productivity. The technology era has brought with it innovation , information , inputs and institutional support to enhance economic growth and development.The use of technology to ensure food security cannot be overemphasized,and so many options are at our fingertips to ensure food sustainability.


 Food can be cultivated in nutrient media instead of soil, and this is done in a controlled environment this system is referred to as hydroponics /aeroponics depending on the conditions of growth.This system enables farming even in your room or balcony or any small space that can house the system you want to adopt.

 Technology bringing change in its track; who could have imagined farming without soil or land? can you imagine planting tomatoes or vegetables or even yam in a column -like stand or table? Welcome to the world of BIOTECH; feeding the world with ease.