The Hindu Business Line : `Spread biotech in agriculture rapidly'

Speakers at a workshop have called for rapid spread of biotechnology (Bt) in agriculture to increase productivity and nutritional quality and achieve sustainable agriculture in India.

Dr Sujatha Sankula, Director (Biotechnology Research Programmes), at the Washington-based National Centre for Food and Agricultural Policy, said the acreage of Bt-driven crops in the US had gone up to 12.3 crore acres in 2005 from five million in 1996. This, she said, showed the increasing acceptability there, including genetically modified crops.

She gave a presentation on "Crop Bt in the US - A case to understand why India cannot miss the BT train" at the international workshop on "Fostering the next green revolution - Role of biotechnology in advancing Indian agriculture" held here. The workshop was organised by Federation of Farmers' Associations (FFA-AP) in association with Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU).

Call for investments

Calling for strategic investments in crop Bt in India, she said it would help the country face the issues such as burgeoning population and shrinking farmland.

Prof. C S Prakash of Tuskegee University (the US) pointed out that Bt was just one tool in the toolbox and an end-all solution for all the problems for agricultural sector. Bt was a `scale neutral' technology, benefiting small and rich farmers alike. On organic farming, he said the farming method had limited choices and largely seen as serving the elite. "It is ideological and almost superstitious and not science based," he said.

Dr S Raghuvardhan Reddy, Vice-Chancellor of ANGRAU, said BT could play a significant role in enhancing genetic yield level in crops such as oilseed mustard, rice and wheat.