Bio-Fortification Sample Paper.
The noble discovery of molecular composition and structures of the genetic molecule
within the1950’s paved way for research into modern biotechnology. The latter is a scientific
discipline that aims at studying how genes can be manipulated in order to enhance the ability of
living organisms and give them superior characteristics and traits. Genetic manipulation has been
well embraced such that it is currently applied in virtually all fields of science and agriculture. Bio-Fortification Sample Paper.
This also entails disciplines such as forestry, farming, horticulture,breeding as well as
environmental conservation. Bio-fortification is one of the techniques that falls under genetic
manipulation as it applies scientific knowledge to reconstruct genes and come up with a more
superior and stronger product.
This form of innovative research makes use of the dominant genes in plants and
subsequently use them to generate a progeny of crops that are resistant to pests, herbicides, have
faster rates of maturity as well as quick ripening. Bio-fortification has been widely applied in
agriculture and farming because it shows high potential when it comes to solving problems of
food security and starvation within the developing nations. This paper is a comprehensive and
analytical essay that addresses the concept of bio-fortification and how this technique has been
beneficial in plant breeding and growing nutrient-rich crops and legumes. Bio-Fortification Sample Paper.
Thesis statement: The agricultural sector has always been prompt at embracing technological
advancement and the application of bio-fortification would be valuable towards production and
engineering of superior crops and legumes.
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a) Overview of the Topic: Bio-Fortification in Relation to Agriculture
The Green Revolution began in the early 1950’s and it aimed at increasing the yield and
productivity of cultivated crops. This strategy was adopted due to the numerous occurrences of
famine, drought, starvation and food shortages that faced many African and Asian countries
(Zhu et al 2013, p.129). In addition, the lack of proper nutrition still remains prevalent in most
states and nations across the globe. Therefore, this form of revolution was vital and proved as
one of the most viable solutions to food insecurity (Clemens 2014, p. 52). Bio-fortification is
one of the results that emanates from the green revolution and its main aim is to produce crops
with additional and high amounts of nutrients. This recent innovation has resulted in the creation
of bio-fortified crops that have extra high levels of either vitamins, amino acids or even
supplements. Bio-Fortification Sample Paper.
The creation of the pearl millet breed that has high levels of iron and zinc coupled with
the discovery of the cassava that is enriched with excessive amounts of carotene serve as classic
examples of the positive impacts of bio-fortification (Zhilin et al 2015, p. 3). The latter is a
scientific discovery and innovation that strives to link agriculture to other related disciplines such
as public health, nutrition and food science. This means that many stakeholders are brought
together to ensure that crops are nutrient-rich while at the same time are healthy so that they can
meet the demands of the consumers and farmers (Blancquaert et al, 2014, 96). Bio-fortification
brings together nutritionists, breeders, researchers, health experts and economists who plan as a
team and discuss the best way of designing superior crops. Bio-Fortification Sample Paper.What’s more, bio-fortification also targets the people who are the highest risk of suffering from hunger due to the foods that they consume habitually (Blancquaert et al, 2014, 96).The efforts of bio-fortification have been concentrated on a number of crops that have
shown to yield positive results when it comes to increasing their nutrient and food content. The
examples of these foods include the sweet potatoes, cassava, maize, millet, beans, rice and even
wheat (Durán et al 2014, p. 84). All of these crops are genetically altered and modified such that
the level of vitamin A, zinc, iron and calcium contents are increased. This also means that the
level of nutrients within these food commodities also increases at the same rate. Bio-Fortification Sample Paper.
In Africa, it has been shown that some of these food crops have already been bio-fortified
and distributed such that farmers have been beneficiaries of additional nutrition from the crops
themselves. In fact, statistics indicate that at least one million people in Africa have either
planted or eaten biofortified crops which are already rich in nutrients after having been
conventionally bred (Carvalho and Vasconcelos 2013, p. 64). Bio-fortification does not only
increase the nutrient value or composition, but it also adds admirable and desirable traits to
crops. For instance, this technique also adds valuable qualities to crops such as making them
high yielding and productive, disease resistant and drought tolerant. Furthermore, the taste and
palatability of bio-fortified crops is much better and people tend to prefer them when compared
to the conventional ones (Vasconcelos 2013, p. 66). Bio-Fortification Sample Paper.
b) Experiences of Bio-Fortification in Breeding and Growing Nutrient-Rich Crops and
Legumes.
The process of bio-fortification is closely associated with biotechnology that capitalizes
on the use of technological advancements to improve yields in crops. This means that this
process makes us of breeding strategies that can create crops with better nutritional value and
farm productivity (Ricachenevsky et al 2013, p. 32). This technique has been mainly used on
crops such as legumes, cereals and staple foods to ensure that low-income households can be able to afford diets that are more diverse. This begins by creating a superior variety of crops that
can be measured and shown to contain a higher level of minerals, pest resistance as well as
tolerant to extreme weather patterns (Durán et al 2014, p. 84). Bio-Fortification Sample Paper.
Bio-fortified crops have been shown to have a positive impact on farming and
agriculture because they can withstand stressful environmental conditions and still produce a
high level of harvest. Bio-fortification is one of the most crucial complements to the constant
problem of food shortages and insecurity (Durán et al 2014, p. 84). Therefore, it can be described
as the panacea to malnutrition, drought and famine within most developing nations. Legumes
and crops that are created through bio-fortification are usually developed through modern
methods and techniques of breeding. This usually involves genetic modification where the
desirable traits in a crop are selected and chosen to be used to engineer and design the resultant
bio-fortified crop (Durán et al 2014, p. 84).
Ideally, this means that there should be sufficient genetic variation within the crop or
legume population, so that the desired traits can be obtained. In the case of legumes such as
beans, peas or groundnuts, it would mean that the desired traits would be high content of
proteins, iron or zinc. In addition, other traits such as resistance, tolerance and productivity could
be important in genetically engineering crops that can withstand all these conditions (Durán et al
2014, p. 84). In the case of other food crops such as rice, maize, cassava or millet, complex traits
are usually improved through the process of plant breeding. The latter entails studying the
genetic make-up of a plant and knowing which genes code for which trait. The breeders then
identify the genes that are switched on when resistance, yields and nutritional value are being
investigated. Bio-Fortification Sample Paper. For instance, when a researcher wants to improve the content of vitamin A in a
crop, then they have to ensure that this specific vitamin is present (Tadakatsu et al 2015, p. 112).This means that using ice to improve the vitamin content would not be possible since
there is no natural variety of rice that is known to be rich in vitamin A. Instead, a breeder should
consider using only the crops that are known to produce this vitamin through a natural process so
that this can then be enhanced artificially through genetic modification. Bio-fortification in crops
and legumes is highly accepted and embraced among consumers because the taste, yields and
superiority of these foods is high (Rawat et al 2013, p. 34). Bio-Fortification Sample Paper. Researchers and plant breeders are utilizing bio-fortification to produce superior crops such as the orange super banana, the pearl millet as well as the cassava that is enriched with carotene. What’s more, beans that have been fortified with iron have also been released and launched in Rwanda and this has helped the country to increase their annual yields in bean harvest (Pinto and Ferreira 2015, p. 64).
The majority of bio-fortified crops and legumes that have been grown and bred have been
released in African countries. This is because this continent is known to have the highest cases of
famine, food insecurity, starvation and malnutrition. Therefore, the production of bio-fortified
crops that are genetically engineered has been instrumental towards mitigating the effects of
starvation and hunger (Shivay et al 2015, p. 191). A classic example of how bio-fortification has
been fruitful in African research is in Mozambique, where sweet potatoes have been genetically
altered and modified such that their vitamin A content is improved immensely. Bio-Fortification Sample Paper. This is made
possible because breeders of these food crops go ahead to identify the genes that code for
vitamin A. These genes are then sequenced and then amplified so that they exist in multiple
amounts.
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Resultantly, the quantity and level of vitamins in the genetically engineered plant are
significantly increased. The study done in Mozambique indicated that the intake of vitamin A
increased threefold when the same crops were distributed in Uganda (Shivay et al 2015, p. 191). Likewise, children who consumed the same crop in Zambia had their vitamin A content in their
bodies increase within the duration that they ate these bio-fortified sweet potatoes. Additionally,
millet that is produced through bio-fortification has the potential of supply the full needs of iron
for children within the development stage. In fact, studies indicate that iron and zinc levels were
increased within the pearl millet crop when test trials were conducted (Zhu et al 2013, p.129).
Similar results were also obtained when bio-fortification was carried out in leguminous
crops such as beans and peas. It is a well known fact that beans have high levels of proteins and
are highly nutritious when included in family meals. Therefore, this crop is one of the legumes
that showed the highest potential of being modified genetically and yielding better results in
nutritional value (Clemens 2014, p. 54). Bio-fortification in beans has been conducted in the
same way as other crops were the genes that represent or synthesize proteins are identified by the
researchers. This is then followed by amplification of these genes through molecular techniques
and using the end result to produce seeds that have the desirable qualities. In fact, bio-
fortification has been able to produce beans that are high yielding, nutrient rich in terms of
protein content, drought tolerant and resistant to diseases(Zhilin et al 2015, p. 5). Bio-Fortification Sample Paper.
In some African countries such as Uganda, Nigeria and Rwanda, beans produced through
bio-fortification can be planted at least three times in a year. This means that starvation and
hunger is significantly reduced within these African states. In fact, it has been shown that the
crops and legumes that have been produced through bio-fortification are able to satisfy up to
eighty percent of the needs of the consumers (Blancquaert et al, 2014, 98). However, this also
depends on the crop or legume. In the case with the sweet potatoes, their vitamin A content has
been shown to satisfy almost one hundred percent of the nutritional requirements of young children. Crops and legumes that are produced through bio-fortification are not only nutritiously
and adaptable, but they are also cost-effective at some level.
The ratio of cost versus the health benefits shows that the level of nutrients that are bio-
fortified are approximated at twenty dollars for every dollar that is invested into the crop. What’s
more, one a nutrient is introduced within the breeding line, this characteristic trait remains there
throughout the lineage of the plant (Blancquaert et al, 2014, 98). Therefore, the crop becomes
more sustainable and cost-effective, thanks to bio-fortification.
c) Importance of Bio-Fortification in plant breeding: Analysis of the efforts in the
development, utilization and scaling of bio-fortified crops
There are a number of organizations that have embraced the concept of bio-fortification
and used it to generate crops of superior quality. One such institution is HarvestPlus that is
leading at a global level to develop crops that are rich in nutrients, minerals and supplements.
This organization does this by partnering and networking with agricultural research centers
across the world (Carvalho and Vasconcelos 2013, p. 64). The end result is that crops and
legumes produced and engineered through bio-fortification begin to enjoy uptake, use and
acceptance by both farmers and consumers. At the same time, Harvest Plus also takes the
initiative of introducing bio-fortification technology to governments so that they can improve on
food stability. Bio-Fortification Sample Paper.
The year 2015 has witnessed the release of bio-fortified crops at a massive scale
(Vasconcelos 2013, p. 66). Countries within the African and Asian continents have been the
major beneficiaries of this scientific discovery. For instance, Bangladesh has benefited from rice
that is highly fortified with zinc, while the Congo Republic has seen is citizens enjoy beans that
are nutrient-rich in iron and cassava that has high contents of vitamin A (Ricachenevsky et al 2013, p. 32). In the same way, Rwanda has also benefited from the consumption and cultivation
of fortified beans that are also rich in iron. In Uganda, potatoes and beans are fortified with
vitamin A and iron respectively, while Zambia is one of the few countries that is enjoying maize
fortified with vitamin A. The concept of bio-fortification is expected to be expanded by research
facilities such that African countries can benefit from this technology (Durán et al 2014, p. 84).
In addition, this strategy can see bio-fortified crops being disseminated and distributed to many
countries across the continent. This move is expected to see farmers embrace this technology and
utilize it as the conventional practice in farming and agriculture. Bio-Fortification Sample Paper.
Bio-fortification technology is advantageous in the sense that most crops and legumes
can be replanted every year. This means that millet, beans, peas, potatoes, cassava and maize can
be used for planting in the next season either through seeds or cuttings that the farmer has saved.
This in direct contrast to plant and crop hybrids where farmers are forced to purchase fresh seeds
with each planting season (Durán et al 2014, p. 84). This is not the case with bio-fortification
since the crops produced are made available to the farmers through the national governments
who then distribute them to farmers on a frequent basis. Ultimately, bio-fortified crops are able
to remain more preferential in terms of nutritive value and overall costs when compared to other
crop varieties. Bio-Fortification Sample Paper.
Conclusion
The concept of bio-fortification is one of the most valuable innovations in relation to
integration of food systems a production. This technology mainly strives to produce crops that
are high yielding and at the same time are rich in nutrients. This is done by addressing the root
cause of the deficiencies with regards to mineral, vitamin and nutrient composition. Bio-
fortification is a technological approach that mainly targets African and Asian countries that are constant victims of hunger, drought, food scarcity and even famine. This technique is carried out
together with biotechnology where genes are modified and altered so as to create a superior crop
variety. This approach has been applied onto crops such as cassava, maize, beans, sweet potato,
pearl millet and even sorghum. Bio-Fortification Sample Paper.
Countries such as Nigeria, Rwanda, Zambia, Congo and Mozambique have tried and
tested this technology and proved that it is beneficial. In fact, it has been shown how the nutrient
value of crops is increased through bio-fortification such that crops can have higher mineral or
vitamin content. Therefore, research facilities in most countries should consider embracing this
technology so as to mitigate the recurring challenges of food shortage and come closer towards
becoming a sustainable economy.
References
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