Adopting new cultural practices to improve productivity, nutritional quality and pest control has slightly improved production at the cost of jeopardizing sustainable productivity. Biotechnology has played a great role in increasing global crop production and productivity in a sustainable way and also by conserving biodiversity [31]. The influence of GM crops showed an increase in productivity; even though the profitability was higher in developed countries than developing countries [32]. Conventional crop production techniques use a range of chemicals to maximize yields and most of the chemicals have negative impact to the environment. New genetically modified crops are being developed in order to reduce the use of agricultural inputs such as pesticides and artificial fertilizers. This will not only improve profitability but also improve sustainability and reduce adverse effects on the environment and human health [33].

Study revealed that, 37% reduction in pesticide usage and an increase in yield of over 21% was obtained by cultivating GM Crops [34], which shows an increase in production and environmental benefit at the same time. Ethiopian economy is dependent on agriculture for food, industrial raw materials such as textile industry and export [35]. However, despite adopting many kinds of production improvement programs, productivity is still very low [36]. This is a critical concept in fostering innovation to transform agriculture sector for more profit and industrialization in Ethiopia.

Abiotic stresses like frost, drought and increased salinity are a limiting factor to the growth of crops [37]. Most crops are susceptible to elevated salt conditions that are rising due to irrigation and changing climatic conditions [37, 38]. A plant growing in salt conditions tries to keep salt away from newly emerging meristematic tissue. For example, tomato plants avoid the migration of salt to their reproductive parts by storing the elevated level of salts in their leaves. On the other hand, salt can be managed by transport mechanisms such as the sodium/proton antiport pump that enables a plant to seize sodium ions in the vacuole. One intensely studied example is AtNHX1 antiport. Transgenic tomatoes that over-express the AtNHX1sodium/proton antiport pump from Arabidopsis were able to survive and grow in saline conditions that too salty for ordinary tomatoes [39]. The tomatoes grew, flowered, and produced seeds in a high-salt environment [39]. Interestingly, the GM tomatoes can be safe for human consumption because the altered tomato had high sodium concentrations in the leaves, but not in the fruits, suggesting that the GM crop could be of agricultural values [40].

Another major problem in crop production is climate change and drought. Drought resistant transgenic horticultural crops can also be produced. FRI gene is one of the genes that improve drought resistance in different crop plants [41]. Agrobacterim mediated transformation was used to transfer gene from barley (HVA1) that codes for late embryogenesis into mulberry plants and improved water deficiency stress [42]. GM mulberry with barley Hva1 under a constitutive promoter (ACTIN1) was reported to enhance drought and salinity stress tolerance [42].

Scientists are developing genetically engineered crops with new traits like increased resistance to pests, disease or environmental stresses [43]. There are many applications of genetic engineering to develop genetically modified crops that are resistant to pests, diseases and different biological enemies on the field [44]. Ethiopia has recently approved the cultivation of Bt Cotton and started confined field trials of Bt maize [29] which will have great impact to reduce pests and diseases damages and boost production. In Uganda, conventional and transgenic biotechnological approaches are being used in order to produce pest and disease resistant bananas [45]. The main advantages of biotechnology in agriculture sector are producing tolerant crops to biotic and abiotic stresses [46]. Field studies from the insecticidal toxin of the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis in tomato plant showed resistance to the tobacco hornworm (Manducasexta), the tomato pinworm (Keiferia lycorersicella), tomato fruit worm (Heliothis zea) and the tomato fruit borer (Helicoverpa armigera) [47]. Tomato plants resistant to a root knot nematode have also been produced by inserting a cysteine proteinase inhibitor gene from obtained Taro [48].

Scientists have developed transgenic herbicide resistant crops for the commercial crops. It is possible to transfer these herbicide resistant genes in to plant. This will reduce the cost of production and ensure weed free plant growth and development for effective performance. The emergence of aphid resistance in Chrysanthemum genetically engineered to produce caffeine is of recent significant development [49].

The benefit of biotechnology is not limited to safeguarding plants against stress but also helps to prolong the shelf life of fruits by delaying repining and senescence. The first model plant for fruit ripening were tomatoes [50]. The Flavr Savr tomato is the pioneer GM food to get approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of America, licensed in 1994 [51]. Ripening causes production of an enzyme called Polygalacturonase (PG) in a gradual increasing level, which is responsible for softening the tomato pectin. However, after genetic engineering, the fruits remained firm for 45 days, which is three times longer than the normal tomatoes which start to wilt after just 15 days. This GM technology was done by suppressing PG production in ripening tomatoes by introducing a reverse-orientation copy of the gene, also known as antisense technology where a reverse copy of the gene is designed to prevent or drastically reduce the formation of PG, resulting in an altered ripening [52]. Ripening in the climacteric fruits can also be delayed by suppressing the production of ethylene hormone required for ripening.

Biotechnology applications have made several efforts to engineer a wide variety of aesthetic traits in the floriculture industry [53] and speed time to flowering [54]. Development of new varieties through traditional technique methods is very difficult or is not an option if varieties are completely sterile, as in orchids [55].

Horticultural crops cultivated for aesthetic values depend on the customers’ preferences on the varieties of flower color. For example, most of the roses are either pink or red in color but people in Japan want their flowers to be blue for the expression of love, compassion and pure faith. Classical plant breeding approaches have been trying to produce blue flowers but it was not made possible. A dream became true for many scientists in Japan and Australia when they produced blue roses for the first time using ‘dolphinin’ gene in genetic transformation [41]. Therefore, it is possible to improve floriculture industry in Ethiopia based on the aesthetic needs of customers.

Transgenic crops production can improve the quality of food by increasing the nutritional content, promoting stable digestion by lowering glycemic index, improving flavor and taste or reducing those substances in food which traditionally produce allergies [20, 56]. The amount of pro-vitamin A was increased in tomato fruit by adding a bacterial gene encoding phytoenedesaturase, even though the total amount of carotenoid in the new transgenic tomatoes remained the same [57]. Scientists improved the production of an antioxidant, anthocyanin in tomatoes by using different methods. It was made possible by adding a transcription factor from Arabidopsis thaliana and also possible to increase the levels of isoflavone, which is known for its potential anti cancer properties, by introducing the soybean isoflavone synthase into tomatoes [58]. The GM tomato had increased antioxidants and was promised to protect against cancer and diabetes [59].

In Africa, genetic engineering provides a complementary tool to banana breeders to introduce transgenic bananas with increased pro-vitamin A fruit content in order to improve child nutrition and health [60]. The new GM banana fruit is not only full of vitamins but also rich in iron. Uganda also had showed interest in GM banana [61]. A scientist has got bananas that have up to a 25-fold increase in the level of Provitamin A, which is above the target we need and that technology has already been transferred to Uganda [62].

Scientists are using common plant foods to carry antigens that prime the immune system through producing edible vaccines. Horticultural crops like banana, lettuce and tomatoes can be used for the production of edible vaccines [63]. Plant based vaccines that are cheaper and safe as compared to the traditional vaccines are being adopted by different countries [64, 65]. Molecular pharming has become internationally interesting method for the production of recombinant pharmaceutical proteins in plants [66]. Plants are preferable bioreactors because of their lower cost of production and easy management practices [65]. The first production of a commercially relevant protein, a human growth hormone, was shown in transgenic tobacco plants in 1986 [67].

Biosafety requires maintaining an equilibrium among assuring a high level of human health and environmental, while at the same time providing a stable regulatory means in the food chain [68]. In addition, some more general concerns include environmental pollution, unintentional gene transfer to wild plants, possible creation of invasive weeds, risk to crop genetic diversity, religious, cultural and ethical concerns, and fright of unknown effects [21].

Gene flow may happen from engineered crops to sexually compatible wild families and to agricultural weeds, there exist gaps of potential effects of gene flow and the effect of specific traits on the performance of the weed or wild families [69]. In Ethiopia, there must exist strong panel of discussions of professionals with clear guidelines, regulation and safety rules to monitor and evaluate introduced GM crops by addressing the following questions: has the product been used as predicted/recommended? Are known effects and side-effects as predicted? Does the product induce unexpected side effects [70]. This helps to maintain GM inputs under the legal tolerance threshold of 0.9% [71]. The earlier version of the Biosafety Proclamation of Ethiopia, which was stringent, has been revised to support the adoption of the technology [17]. Due to safety fears many countries have refused introduction or production of GM crops. For example, the Scottish Government announced to use the new EU legislation, which prevents GM crops production [18].

As the battle to ensure food and nutritional security of millions of people continues, looking biotechnology as an option is a choice to solve global hanger, but should it be at the expense of nature? This is a growing debate about the potential value of modern biotechnology.

Genetically modified plants can be hazardous to the health of animals. The transgene which has been inserted in to a target organism to modify its original characteristics for the benefit of human beings may also have a negative effect on other non-target organisms [72]. There are some known effects of biotech crops while others risks are yet to be studied. It was reported that world population of bees is declining rapidly possibly due to, among other factors, use of GM crops [73]. Bluetongue Virus (BTV) is spreading to Northern Europe, a shocking evidence of an ‘exotic’ vector-borne cattle disease established within new geographical region. This virus has slight understanding of its source, presenting a new and significant risk to animal production [74]. Due to such fears countries such as Italy does not allow commercial cultivation or field trials of any GM plants tested in the country’s academic labs or research centers [28].

People’s attitudes are considered vital factors influencing both the use of biotechnology and its expansion. Concerning future GM non-food products, the majority of experts expect public attitudes to become more positive over the next 10–15 years, while the level of acceptance of GM food products will be unchanged [75]. Opponents of GM technology raises the issue regarding modification in nutritional quality of foods, likely antibiotic resistance from GM crops, potential toxicity, potential allergy and carcinogenicity from GM foods [21]. Coexistence should be permitted for, and appropriate labeling is essential to assurance customers’ freedom of choice [75]. Disputes were examined on competitive study of UK and Australia citizens on GMO food acceptance. The acceptance of transgenic foods at government and industry level has not directed to commercial adoption in the UK due to users’ confrontation and the influence of EU regulations, whereas Australian governments at federal and state level have progressively embraced GM crops, possibly locking Australia into a GM food and farming trajectory [76]. Biotechnology in over-all, and use of genetic engineering in food production in specific are viewed seriously by the European community and supposed as risky and disparity has been observed between European and US citizens [77].

There exist an immense worry and blame against Bt Cotton from environmentalist and rights groups against biotech industry in general. In India although there are measurable results and implementations of the biotech crops, the country still faces severe oppositions from the wider rages of the rights groups. At some point, the supreme court of India has been involved in the litigations of a case with regards to implementations of biotechnology activities that involved mustard [15]. This is a good lesson to take for African countries like Ethiopia on creating awareness and also participating concerned professionals and rights groups. One challenge of GM crops production is to get certified seed. Growers must purchase GM seeds every year which makes them dependent on GM seed producers and suppliers that charge extra for GM seeds than common seeds. Moreover, seed distribution can be challenging for nations with poor infrastructure. Many countries have planned and applied procedures to address the safety fears of consumers and producers [78] but there is an immense international heterogeneity in labeling regulations [79, 80].

In the last fifteen years, about 40 states have accepted labeling policies, however the characteristics of the policies and their degree of application vary greatly [80, 81, 82]. Most developing countries with leveling policies have failed to implement properly [82]. The slow regulatory capacity is the major challenge that slows down the approval process of GM crops in many countries like GM mustard and eggplant in India as well as Bt rice in China [83]. For the past several years, Ethiopia has invested in establishing the legal and regulatory systems, as well as the technical capacity to support and manage the adoption of GM cotton [17].

Among the countries with labeling laws, the only common feature is the quasi– generalized requirement to label products derived from GM crops that are not substantially equivalent to their conventional counterparts [80]. The two broad regulatory approaches for labeling of GM food are: 1) Voluntary labeling which is driven largely by market forces, with no legislative requirements to declare the use of GMOs in food production; and 2) Mandatory labeling which requires declaration of characteristics imparted to a food by the use of gene technology (are they healthy and safe and/or process-related), or use of gene technology itself in food production. Certain countries with mandatory labeling for GM ingredients also have voluntary guidelines for the labeling of non-GM food [80].