Radha Mohan Singh, the Union Agriculture Minister, lent vocal support to genetically modified (GM) crops on Friday stating that technologically enhanced seeds could help India realise its food security ambition and believed it held great promise in minimising productivity losses particularly on account of abiotic stress factors like floods and drought.

“While agriculture feeds the nation, seeds feed agriculture… Bt Cotton in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu has clearly demonstrated what these new technologies can do to boost farmer incomes,” said Singh at the Indian Seed Congress 2015 being held in Agra.

The Minister pointed out that agri-income could rise further when technologies like herbicide tolerance, drought tolerance, nitrogen use efficiency etc. was introduced commercially in India.

“Losses that occur due to droughts, floods, salinity, biotic and other abiotic stresses also need to be eliminated decisively through the adoption of appropriate technologies. In this context, genetic engineering holds great promise,” a press statement added.

Shifting attitude

Singh’s statement follows no objection certificates being granted by the Maharashtra Government for field trials of transgenic varieties in four crop lines (brinjal, cotton, chickpea and rice) late last month. Earlier this week, Karnataka Biotechnology and IT Minister S.R. Patil batted for field trials in his State.

The Government currently requires companies seeking to undertake open field trials of GM varieties to obtain clearances from the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), a body under the Union Environment Ministry, as well as obtain no-objection certificates from State Governments. Maharashtra joined States like Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab that had allowed field trials earlier.

Last year, the GEAC provided clearances for field trials of transgenic varieties for 15 crops. A moratorium had been imposed on the commercial release of the Bt Brinjal in February 2010. Currently, commercial cultivation has only been permitted for GM cotton varieties which use Bt technology that protects the crop from bollworm attacks.

Improved cotton yields since 2002 when Bt Cotton first made its entry into India have often been attributed to GM technology by biotechnology companies. Almost 96 per cent of Indian cotton is now GM.

Government support

“Superior genetics encapsulated in seed combined with improved agronomies shall be the key strategy to break the yield barriers...in this direction the private organized seed industry has significantly contributed and complemented with the public sector. Government shall therefore support PPP initiatives for development of the sector,” he said.

The Indian seed industry is growing at 15 per cent, the Minister said, double the global average. In terms of GM crop coverage, India ranked fourth, behind the US, Brazil and Argentina.

“In 2013-14 alone, Indian farmers who planted Bt Cotton earned a monetary benefit of approximately Rs. 12,000 crores. Going-forward, the focus of the seed industry is to ensure a substantial increase in farm productivity to meet India’s food security requirements in as efficient and sustainable manner as possible,” said Ram Kaundinya, Director General, Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises-Agriculture Group (ABLE-AG).

Kaundinya added that Indian scientists had developed GM seeds for rice, pulses, and oilseeds suited to Indian agro-climatic conditions and the Indian seed industry required a regulatory framework across State and Centre “to foster a transparent, efficient and cooperative lab-to-farm synergy”.

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