The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Need for more research in biotechnology stressed

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Sunday, Jun 10, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Need for more research in biotechnology stressed

Special Correspondent

`It will help check fall in agricultural production'

Bangalore: Biotechnology research and related business ventures have not matched India's growth in other sectors, resulting in a steady fall in agricultural production since its peak during the 1970s and 1980s, S.A. Patil, Director, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), said here on Saturday.

Speaking at the Agri-Biotech Day at Bangalore Bio 2007, the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Dharwad, recalled that the UAS was the first to have a centre dedicated to bio-agricultural research, which resulted in the first transgenic cotton variety being introduced in India. The IARI was also involved in these efforts.

Higher yield

"The new cotton breed has yielded up to 270 lakh bales of cotton within a year, though cultivated on less land overall. India will soon be the second largest cotton grower in the world. The IARI is now engaged in negotiations with Indian and overseas companies for seeds developed by it and collaborative research with Cornel University in the U.S.," Dr. Patil said.

Venture capital fund

The Karnataka Government could take up more pioneering work, including a venture capital fund for small firms engaged in bio-agricultural research, and earn back the funding through royalties, he suggested. Only such efforts could bridge the increasing gap between the growth in population and total crop production.

K.K. Narayanan, president of the Association of Biotechnology-led Enterprises (ABLE), remarked, "India's agriculture sector has certain advantages such as 126 million hectares of arable land, climatic and soil variations that can support most crops and more than one crop season in each year. But, like our showing in the World Cup, we are far behind other countries of comparable size in food crops production. The agriculture sector grew by barely 2.3 per cent last year compared to a 12 per cent growth in the manufacturing sector and 13 per cent in the services sector. While almost two-thirds of our population is engaged in agriculture-related work, farm production now contributes to only one-fifth of the total GDP, compared to one-fourth less than one decade ago. This may prevent inclusive growth that the Government wants and adversely impact total economic growth."

Farm policy

Minister for Agriculture Bandeppa Kashempur said, "Our Government is serious about increasing agricultural production. The new agriculture policy announced at the end of 2006 looks at an annual growth of 4.5 per cent and doubling production in ten years."

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