How does genetically-modified differ from the earlier Green Revolution ?
In the late 1960s, researchers developed hybrids, which combined with newer farming techniques and pesticides resulted in the production of strains of crop that had higher yield and were resistant to certain diseases. This resulted in the Green Revolution with a significant increase in food production helping many countries, including India, become self-reliant in food. The green revolution essentially relied on the traditional farming technique of selective breeding. But the process of combining the best genes in one plant is tedious process. It is also impossible to cross unrelated plants or plants and animals. But genetic engineering can bring together a variety of genes in one living organism. It is a powerful tool which expands the possibilities of creating better crop varieties beyond the limitations of traditional techniques. For example, a GM crop like bt corn, which contains a gene from a bacterium, produces its own insecticide It is the insertion of genetic matter from other
