Business, government and society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Business, government and society - Essay Example In the global context, the use of genetically modified crops has increased tremendously since its first commercial plantings in the late 1990s. By the end of 2012, the study has shown that around 12% of the world’s arable is being used for growing genetically modified crops (Baker and Burnham, 2001). The US government has even embraced the use of biotechnology for the purpose of developing a food system as the ‘silver bullet’. The global population has already crossed 6 billion and experts predict that the figure will actually double in the next 50 years. Therefore ensuring an adequate food supply is the foremost activity and is probably going to become one of the global challenges. As a result of that it is not only adjudged as the way to help farmers earn handsome profit, but at the same time this is the only feasible way to feed the growing global population. However, despite of its growing importance and high acceptance the industry is characterized by immense turbulence. According to a number of publications, genetically modified foods negatively impacts human body and hence can be a reason for various diseases. Echoing the same another set of scholars has highlighted in the fact that genetically modified foods hardly have any nutritional value and therefore has minimal ability to proffer the required nutritional benefits. Ironically, few authors claim that the significance of genetically modified food in the nutritional health of a human being is subject of debate. According to them, genetically modified foods are contemporary and so new that drawing a conclusion about how it actually impacts the human body is not possible (Caswell and Mojduszka, 1996). One of the evident negative factors from the business context is that the process is expensive and thus farmers or the end consumers often need to pay much higher prices (Christensen, 2003). Inadequate knowledge and awareness among the farmers is also a cause of concern for the growth o f this industry. Therefore from an overall discussion and analysis of the facts, it seems that with proper management, proper treatment of seeds, adequate investment and support from the government of respective countries, the genetically modified food industry could well stand out as one of the most vibrant industries of the world and can act as a solution for the future towards managing the food demand (Moore, 2001). This report seeks to throw light on the emergence and development of this industry in relationship with technological