Status of Transgenic Cereal Crops: A Review

The era of transgenic plants, begin with the field trials of genetically engineered tobacco plants in early eighties. The success story for cereal crops took almost a decade after first transgenic plant development. The first transgenic cereal crop released commercially was Bt maize. The success of insect pest tolerant maize and rice varieties witnessed the approval of this promising technology. Scientific institutions and private companies concerted their efforts in terms of time and capital investment for this demanding field. This led to many landmark achievements in all the challenging areas where conventional breeding could not make much progress in terms of economic benefits. Genetically engineered plants offer higher yields, better adaptability, less reliance on chemicals, and greater nutritional value. The wider acceptability of genetically modified crops particularly cereals will strengthen the food security issues for combating the fear of hunger outraging with increasing population. This review summarizes the landmark achievements, advancements, commercialization and the global status of genetically modified cereals particularly maize, rice and wheat.