II. Application of Biotechnology in Agriculture

1.  Agriculture comprising crop and animal husbandry, fisheries, agro-forestry and agro-processing is the backbone of our national food security and rural livelihood security systems. There are about 110 million operational holdings in the country. The smaller the farm, the greater is the need for higher productivity and marketable surplus, so that the family can derive some cash income. Also, our human population is predominantly young. Youth can be attracted and retained in farming only if farming becomes intellectually satisfying and economically rewarding. This will call for a technological upgrading of our agriculture.

1.1  India is a mega-biodiversity area. Biodiversity constitutes the feedstock of the biotechnology industry. India is also endowed with a rich institutional infrastructure in the form of National and State research institutes, Agricultural, Veterinary, Rural, Women’s and general Universities and a network of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs). Private sector research, particularly in the area of breeding and seed production, is fast expanding. India has already attained a position of leadership in information and communication technology, space technology and medical biotechnology.

1.2  Biotechnology provides an opportunity to convert bioresources into economic wealth. This has to be done in a manner that there is no adverse impact either on the environment or on human and animal health. The bottom line of our national agricultural biotechnology policy should be the economic well being of farm families, food security of the nation, health security of the consumer, protection of the environment and the security of our national and international trade in farm commodities. Recommendations of the Task Force are based on these considerations.

1.3  Infusion of new technology is necessary to maintain our agricultural enterprise competitive and remunerative. Modern science of biotechnology is relevant to various areas of agriculture including crops, animals, fisheries and agro-forestry and agro-processing. There are myriad applications of biotechnology in agriculture such as:

• Generation of transgenic crops/animals/agro-forestry plants/ microbes with improved traits
    

• Use of molecular markers to (i) tag genes of interest, (ii) accelerate breeding through marker assisted selection, and (iii) undertake fingerprinting of cultivars, landraces, germplasm stocks
     

• DNA-based diagnostics to monitor/control /manage/ eradicate pests and pathogens of crops, farm animals and fish
    

• Biotech-derived drugs/antibiotics/vaccines for animal husbandry and fisheries
    

• Assessment and monitoring of bio-resource diversity
    

• Plant tissue culture for large-scale multiplication of elite/disease-free planting material
   

• Embryo culture/transfer/cloning technology for animal breeding
    

•  Feed biotechnology for efficient use of crop residues and oil cakes
    

•  Food biotechnology
    

• Bioremediation of pollution in ground water and other effluents.
    

• Functional Genomics, Proteomics and Bioinformatics

In additional the Science of Nano-biotechnology is making rapid progress.

1.4  A long-term policy on Biotechnology Applications in Agriculture should therefore aim at:

• Providing direction to research and development in relation to priorities, based on social, economic, ecological, ethical and equity issues.
    

• Devising a system for commercialization of transgenics/GM products, and
    

• Developing a clear policy on GM food and feed in the country

1.5     The long-term policy should also take into account the need and relevance of the technology to agriculture and should be in tune with and derived from the National Policy on Agriculture, the overall goals of which are:

• Increasing productivity, profitability, quality and total agricultural output

• Promoting environmental sustainability through natural resource conservation and enhancement

• Improving factor productivity in order to reduce the cost of production and enhance net earning from marginal and small holdings

• Ensuring food and nutrition security

• Generating employment, reducing gender and social inequality and regional imbalances in agricultural growth

• Enhancing agricultural competitiveness in relation to global standards

• Strengthening national capability in facing the potential adverse impact of climate change and sea level rise.

1.6     Since there is public, political and professional concern about transgenics with reference to their short and long term impacts on human health and the environment, their testing, evaluation and approval have to be stringent, elaborate and science-based. The general approach in this respect, therefore, should be that:

• Biotech applications, which do not involve transgenics such as biopesticides, biofertilizers and bio-remediation agents, should be accorded high priority. They will help to enforce productivity in organic farming areas

• Transgenic approach should be considered as complimentary and resorted to when other options to achieve the desired objectives are either not available or not feasible

• High priority should be accorded in transgenic approach to the incorporation of resistance to insect-pests and diseases including viruses and to drought and salinity (i.e. biotic and abiotic stresses)

• Transgenic research should not be undertaken in crops/commodities where our international trade may be affected, e.g., Basmati rice, soybean or Darjeeling Tea. Wheat exporting countries like Canada and USA are abandoning their programmes for breeding transgenic wheat varieties hybrids.

• The international guidelines being set up by the FAO-WHO Codex Commission for assessing and managing the health risks posed by GM foods should be closely followed. These risk analysis guidelines call for safety assessments to be conducted for all GM foods prior to market approval.

1.7     In addition, core information about gene exchange taking place among modern cultivars, traditional varieties and wild relatives should be gathered to assess concerns of transgene escape and establishment. Data should also be gathered on the impact of transgenics on biodiversity in crop fields, as has been done on an extensive scale in the United Kingdom.  

1.8          Information emerging from genomics especially genome sequencing of model plants and other organisms should be used for allele mining from other related species.