Farming may go high-tech, but unless seeds keep pace, all improvements will be cosmetic. Or thatโs what scientists at research institutes think. โTill the government allows farmers to adopt genetically modified (GM) crops, there is little chance of an agricultural transformation that we are talking about,โ says P. Ananda Kumar, director of the Indian Institute of Rice Research.
But isnโt GM bad? … Kumar sees little benefit in the endless debate. โAfter all,โ he says in a matter-of-fact way, โit is already working in 28 countries covering 185 million hectares and 15 crops.โ
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Modified seeds for brinjal [eggplant] and mustard have been argued about for years now. โIt is time that the Indian government or the political leadership heed the advice of its own scientists than some vested interests using scare-mongering tactics in the media,โ says Kumar caustically. Elsewhere, K.K. Narayanan, founder and chairman of Kottaram Agro-Foods, gets agitated when I ask about Bt brinjal [eggplant]. These technologies, which can add Rs 60,000 crore every growing season, are left โsitting on the shelfโ, he says. Bhagirath Choudhary, founder director of New Delhi-based South Asia Biotechnology Centre, adds that farmers themselves will not have any problem shifting to GM seeds once they see profits flowing in. โUnfortunately, that is not happening because no one is allowed to demonstrate the benefits of GM crops to the farmers,โ he says.
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