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The women and
I were walking along the bunds of the paddy field, looking for signs
of The Yala season
has not been "problem free". Even with the
adverse weather conditions, the plants did not succumb to the drought.
We kept faith with our field. We made it look pretty. The chrysanthemums
did flower, but the Giricildia branches that we planted on the bunds
did not take root. The branches were removed and tossed aside disdainfully
by those who used the bunds of the field to cut short their travel
time. But even they
could not have willingly wrecked a plot of paddy, just to thwart
our efforts! It was unimaginable. So we got into the field to take
a closer look at the damage done, and then we saw it - A large bucket
of illicit brew, hidden among the paddy stalks, and some other implements.
So that explained the state of the field. People had been sitting
there in the evening and having a swig by moonlight. Despair and
anger were the first of the emotions to surface. Despair because
we had laboured so hard to bring the field to this stage. Anger
at the thoughtlessness of some people. I wanted to
bring the miscreants to book. But was stopped by the women, who
opted for caution. As we discussed
the situation and a line of action, one of the women whispered:
"We are being watched." I looked towards the bend in the
road and there stood two men facing our direction. Did the field
hide a security alarm? When we stepped into the field I could swear
that we were alone. Seconds had not ticked away from the time when
we discovered the bucket, to the time we had an audience! One of the
men was supposed to be the owner of the brew; He was a well-known
"chandiya" in the village. I was told that the man was
not averse to taking a knife, and if we wanted to stay unharmed
we would have to overlook it. But what about
the harm he had done to the field? If crops are damaged the village
headman should be notified, the police called in, and after an inquiry
the offender would have to make good the damage. But here we had
to carry the loss, because the people feared the culprit. The offender
had served various prison sentences and was not reformed by the
experience; instead his activities only seemed to keep alive his
past. The next day
the offending brew had been taken away. The incident was history.
But my mind keeps visiting the scene - the loss of a perfectly good
plot of paddy. Why did he have to choose one of the best plots?
Couldn't he have used the dense vegetation of the countryside instead
of the field? How can one succeed in this atmosphere? The phone rings. The news of the incident has reached Colombo. "Hey, why didn't you let us in on the new venture? Such a lucrative business and you cut us out? And how ingenious, you hid it in the field." Trust Colombo to take the edge off the issue. I burst out laughing. Towards
a safer Sri Lanka Numerous
techniques Advantages
& concerns Apex body
of experts Moreover, as
biotechnology involves numerous areas of interest, many ministries
are involved in formulating and implementing research in biotechnology,
including those involved with agriculture, environment and forest,
science and technology, economic reform, livestock development,
food, health, education, plantations etc. Therefore, there is an
urgent need to coordinate all functions related to biotechnology
and bring them under one roof without letting it be fragmented as
it is now. There is an urgent need to appoint an Apex Body of eminent
scientists to coordinate all biotechnological activities in Sri
Lanka. National
Priorities * Improvement
of crop and livestock productivity The research
programmes already initiated at the AgBC, pertaining to national
needs, involves DNA fingerprinting of medicinal plants (e.g. bin
kohomba), production of hybrid tomatoes and chilli for dry zone
farming conditions using molecular markers, identification and selection
of superior kolikuttu banana varieties using DNA fingerprinting,
study of gene action in salinity tolerant rice, and tissue culture
of pineapples and ornamentals, all undertaken by Ph.D. students
of the Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture (PGIA) of the University
of Peradeniya, whilst about 40 students have completed their training
in biotechnology at the M.Sc. level. More and more have registered
for more and more training. Research using rDNA technology will
be carried out only under strict biosafety regulations, which are
in the process of being established in Sri Lanka. The AgBC has also
lined up several training programmes for 2003/2004. It also undertakes
educational programmes. These will include lectures and group discussions. The use of
recombinant DNA technology has had a profound impact on the development
of science and in the production of novel organisms (GMO) and products
globally. It involves the transfer of genes across species and has
resulted in the production of higher yielding crops resistant to
pests and diseases, with better nutritional, health and environmental
attributes, as well as organisms with novel capabilities such as
cows producing pharmaceuticals in their milk, strawberries carrying
fish genes to enable them to be grown in the winter and edible vaccines
(hepatitis B) in potatoes and bananas etc. Using this technology
it is possible to produce a novel organism with any combination
of characters by transferring genes. Health sector Risk assessment These concerns
will be addressed by implementing proper regulations such as the
Biosafety Regulations that are at present being established in Sri
Lanka. In the meantime, all strata of our society should be 'educated'
on the pros and cons of this technique and their views taken into
account in making national decisions. It is also
an undeniable fact that biodiversity (variety of organisms) is with
'us' in the developing countries and biotechnology is with 'them'
in the developed/industrialized countries. If we continue to maintain
this status quo, biopiracy ('stealing' of the genes found in our
biodiversity) will be inevitable and 'they' will eventually 'own'
what we have. It is important, therefore, to 'import', develop (capacity
and human resources) and sustain this technology here, so that we
will do what our people want us to do and patent our own genes,
processes, software etc. This is what India and China are doing
with much success. The World Bank,
concerned with safe science, has announced the formation of a global
panel to assess the environmental and social risks of all scientific
methods used to boost agricultural productivity including the use
of GM food, organic agriculture, traditional plant breeding techniques
and new farming technologies. By identifying
the concerns that this technology is supposed to bring and by carrying
out open, transparent discussions and debates, we will be able to
help this technology be applied as safely as possible, without denying
our people its potential benefits and without slipping into the
backwaters of nowhere, while others around us and the less privileged,
forge ahead. The writer
is Director, Agricultural Biotechnology Centre, University of Peradeniya |
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Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
insect
damage to our now ripening paddy. All of a sudden we stopped and
gazed in horror. In the plot before us, sheaves of paddy lay trampled
underfoot. But why?
