Radical thinking in policy making is the need of the hour to help farmers, according to Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Biotech International Ltd.
He was delivering the 46th Foundation Lecture of ICAR - National Academy of Agricultural Research and Management (NAARAM) Hyderabad on Innovations here Wednesday.
More than product innovation, Indian farmers were in need of innovative marketing solutions, techniques and practices in allied agriculture, Ella said while citing examples of success stories of farmers in allied agricultural activities.
GM crops
Referring to a greater policy push on key areas, Ella said: “We missed the GM crops. Today, many seeds which are coming from Bangladesh to India are GM seeds only. We need to think about GM crops seriously,” he said adding that Crispr technology (a technology to edit genes) in farming should also be examined.
“Innovation is not taught in class, it's in front of our eyes. When an entrepreneur tries to solve a public problem, it becomes innovation,” Ella said while elaborating on how Bharat Biotech had pioneered innovation in vaccines including in Covaxin.
India has huge germ plasm resources that offer scope for research and innovation, Ella said.