Agricultural Biotechnology: Biotechnology answer to falling farm yields in India
Agbioworld
Ratnajyoti Dutta, NewsWire18
June 21, 2007
Here is the excerpt from an interesting article published by Agbioworld about agricultural biotechnology.
Excerpt…
NEW DELHI - Biotechnology application at field levels can help reduce yield gaps as demonstrated by the experience in Bt cotton, but steps should be ensured to make such application full proof before the field trials, experts said.
India has been battling dismal yields in almost all major crops with the total food grain output stagnating at around 200-210 mln tn in the last one decade or so.
"Technology can fill up existing yield gaps," said Bhagirath Choudhary, National Co-ordinator of International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications.
For instance, though Punjab has a yield of 3,500 kg rice per ha, in Madhya Pradesh, it is at its lowest of 840 kg per ha.
National yield average in rice stands at around 2,000 kg per ha.
Egypt has achieved a yield of 9,500 kg per ha, the highest in the world, with hybrid varieties of rice developed locally.
Similarly, in wheat, the yield is highest in Punjab at 4,593 kg per ha and lowest in Maharashtra at 1,342 kg per ha.
The country's average yield is around 2,753 kg ha.
Tamil Nadu has the highest oilseed yield of 1,600 kg, while Orissa has a dismal 450 kg per ha yield. National yield for oilseeds stands at 859 kg per ha.
"The basic issue is how to raise the national average yields to the best level and the lowest yield level to at least the national average," Choudhary said adding that the answer lies in biotechnology.
In its latest estimate, the government has revised food grain output in the current crop year ending June at 211.8 mln tn as compared with the production target of 220 mln tn for this year set earlier.
Increased farm output in the next three or four years can come either through reducing existing yield gaps or expanding acreage, but the scope of raising output through area expansion is extremely limited, experts said.
Agriculture Secretary P.K. Mishra believes medium and long-term measures demand a focus on increasing the per hectare yield, and for which, better varieties of seeds are needed.
He rued the fact that there has not been any major breakthrough in high yielding varieties of seeds.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, at the National Development Council meeting last month, had also stressed on the need to reduce the yield gap in farm sector.
Reduction in yield gap is extremely critical for ensuring balanced regional growth and economic prosperity in rural areas.…
Full article at Agbioworld. Original press release at CrisilMarketWire.
