The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Biosecurity vital for agriculture and healthcare, says NIAS dean

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Biosecurity vital for agriculture and healthcare, says NIAS dean

Staff Reporter

‘India needs an effective system to guard against diseases’

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Looking forward: (From left) P.K. Shetty, Dean of NIAS; former Union Minister M.V. Rajasekharan; Governor Rameshwar Thakur; and K. Kasturirangan, Director, NIAS, at the book launch in Bangalore on Wednesday.

Bangalore: India needs a comprehensive biosecurity policy to safeguard the income and livelihood of the farm sector and to monitor, warn and build infrastructure to contain possible pandemics, P.K. Shetty, Professor and Dean at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) has said.

“India does not have an effective system to detect, report and effectively mitigate outbreaks of new diseases and pests in crops and animals that threaten the country’s biosecurity,” he said. Dr. Shetty was speaking here on Wednesday at the launch of a book “Biosecurity” that he has co-edited with eminent agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan and Ajay Parida, director of the biotechnology programme at M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), Chennai. The book is an outcome of a meeting in November 2006, organised by NIAS and MSSRF, where experts, policy makers and government officials discussed issues on biosecurity.

The recent spread of the H5N1 avian influenza virus and the resurgence of devastating pests and diseases in crops such as wheat and sugarcane highlight the need for strengthening biosecurity, said Dr. Shetty.

Vulnerability

He added that the agricultural economy is particularly vulnerable to exotic pests. “Liberalised global trade in agricultural commodities and trans-boundary movement of plants and animals are playing a significant role in the globalisation of pests and diseases,” he said.

K. Kasturirangan, Director of the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), said that a network of laboratories must exist for the assessment of dangerous organisms. “Decisions on eradication and quarantine must take into account not only their local impact on trade and livelihood but also on their implications, nationally and internationally,” he said.

Governor Rameshwar Thakur said that biosecurity is clearly interlinked with agriculture and environment and is therefore vital to the existence of humankind.

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