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The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has sought funds to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore for research and development of transgenic seeds in pulses.
“Transgenic material is very important to take on pod borer that results in losses up to 30 per cent of all pulses produced in the country. Developing hybrid to face this problem would go a long way in achieving self-sufficiency in pulses,” Prof. Swpan K Datta, Deputy Director General (Crop Sciences) of ICAR, told Business Line.
He said it might take 3-5 years to come out with a solution to address this problem in pulses. “Though there has been some research on this. Nothing significant has happened. Since there are now hybrids in pulses, there is not much active participation from private sector in this regard,” he said.
“We have made a presentation at Planning Commission early this week and asked them to give funds to support research in pulses. The country imports pulses worth Rs 5,000 crore every year. If we spend Rs 5,000 crore as a one-time investment in the next five years, we sure could achieve self-sufficiency,” he added.
He said focus on hybrid rice in India was not enough when compared to China. “China has about 200 active hybrid rice scientists working on hybrid rice. But we have handful of them,” he said.
Stating that the country needed to focus on this, he pointed out that research should keep the choices of people in different parts of the country. “People in different regions prefer particular paddy varieties. The researchers should factor in likes and dislikes,” he said.
Surplus not self-sufficiency
Dr Datta felt that self-sufficiency could be a risky proposition. “We should work towards a surplus scenario rather than trying to achieve self-sufficiency. We should be able to export food even after having enough buffer stocks. Exports would get additional income to farmers,” he said.
GM research
On the strong opposition to GM (genetically modified) food crops in the country, Dr Datta felt that all decisions should be based on science. “It is unfortunate (opposition to GM). Decisions should not be taken based on emotions or sentiments. Decisions should be science based,” he observed.
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