‘Bt is the breakthrough technology’

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Coimbatore, Apr 16: With the production of foodgrains and oil seeds remaining either stagnant or facing a shortfall, India, which stands at the crossroads, needed a breakthrough technology to increase productivity in the available land, a senior official in the Agricultural Science Recruitment Board, New Delhi, said on Monday.

The yield of oilseeds was short by 24 million tonne, pulses by 15 mt, wheat remaining at 70 mt and rice at 85 to 90 mt and biotechnology could be an improved tool to introduce a second green revolution in India, CD Mayee, chairman of the board said.

Addressing a two-day seminar on the ‘Media Worskhop on Agricultural Biotechnology’ here, Mayee, however, said that there were lot of misconceptions and misunderstanding about the technology, which has created a fear among the farming community.

With basic need of food sufficiency in the long run, in the wake of foodgrains production remaining stagnant at 210 mt to 215 mt in the last one decade, India has already started importing wheat now, he said.

Cotton production, after the introduction of Bt, a small fraction of the technology, in 2002 in India, has witnessed tremendous growth from 140 lakh bales to 270 lakh bales now.

Media has a vital role to play to provide the right kind of information on the advantages of Bt to the maximum benefit of farmers. When biotechnology was adopted in human and veterinary care, why was it not adopted in agriculture, Mayee asked.

In his address, G Balachandran, joint secretary, the ministry of environment and forests, said, “More than 38 lakh hectares of cotton cultivation in the country is an indication that the farmers have accepted biotechnology.” India was one of the early movers in the matter of biosafety laws and policies and adopted biosafety rules in 1989.