Part 7 (1/2)

67.

with environmental activists, will insist that we should also adopt international standards as otherwise the health of our people will be in danger. Thanks to information technology, the demand for stiffer environmental standards in any one part of the world soon becomes a global issue. Thus, the use of agrochemicals and fertilizers has to often conform to international specifications. There are also other considerations of equal national treatment under the WTO. In other words, we cannot have one standard for Indian business and another for a foreign ent.i.ty.

Serious implications arise from various international obligations for the protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). This means far greater commercial restrictions in the use of technologies developed elsewhere in the world. Even our own research cannot be based on mere imitation of foreign technologies. For example, we cannot a.s.sume easy availability of better seeds as we had obtained through the Mexican highyielding varieties at the beginning of our Green Revolution: witness the trend of foreign scientists and technologists attempting to patent an agriculturerelated Invention new methods of growing basmati riceas happened recently in the US.

Now let us go back to table 4.1 which projects possible food grain imports by a number of countries with huge populations. If a number of them do import, many companies in developed countries will resort to selling food grains as a business. (Even now they do, though in ways that are not too obvious.) Once we have to depend on imports to provide food for our people, foreign companies and governments can use this issue politically to derive many trade and political advantages. It also likely that they will resort to conditional ties which will perpetuate the dependence.

An environmental concern that is likely to have implications for Indian agriculture is the emission of gases like methane and carbon dioxide. These are calculated based on various models. India will be told that we contribute so much and there may be some penalties on those who emit more than an internationality established limit. Some of the concerns could be an outcome of complex geopolitical motivations. The latter can a.s.sume various forms to mask pressures. In any case we have to learn to make our own models and counter geopoliticalmotivated pressures. Further, since climatic changes will affect agriculture, we should also be able to filter out facts of scientific relevance and take advance action to protect our agriculture.

68.

The technologies In addition to representing the national will and organizing a largescale national effort, technologies play a crucial role in achieving food security for the country.

We would naturally start with biotechnology as it deals with many aspects of basic inputs to agriculture: seeds, plants, soil treatment, etc. It is crucial to food security, if we take the right steps. One of the most important technologies is that which can lead to transgenic plants: that is, plants which are 'humanmade' and are tailored to meet the desired objectives by transfer and expression of the desired type of gene to a target plant.

Worldwide, a number of such developments are taking place. In 199495, of the total number of 482 transgenic plants that were produced, 30 per cent were field tested for herbicide resistance, 24 per cent for product quality, 21 per cent for insect resistance, 14 per cent for vital resistance and 8 per cent for other special traits. Targets of the developed world's biotechnology industry are given in table 4.3. Crops reported to have been transformed are vegetables, field crops, fruits and nuts besides others. Among the vegetables are: asparagus, carrot, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, cuc.u.mber, horseradish, lettuce, pea, potato and tomato. Among field crops: alfalfa, corn, cotton, flax, oilseed (rape), rice, rye, soybean, sugar beet and sunflower. And among fruits/nuts were apple, pear and walnut.

TABLE 4.3.

Targets in Improvement for selected crops in North America and Europe Through Biotechnology ________________________________________________.

____________________.

Tomato : Improved texture, increased solids, enhanced firmness Potato : Increased solids, reduced browning, uniform starch distribution Canola: Modified oil composition, improved oil quality, improved feed quality _____________________________________________________________________.

69.

source: TIFAC Food and Agriculture: Technology Vision 2020 As of now it appears that the major benefits of biotechnology are focused on the processing industry, e.g. tomato, potato. These are not the crops which can provide food security now or in the future.

In India, a certain amount of crop (transgenic) biotechnology is being put to use.

Major efforts are being undertaken to make cotton pestresistant. Most readers would be aware of the spate of suicides by cotton farmers recently. Let us hope there will be scientific and technologies breakthroughs in pestresistant transgenic cotton seeds. Till we achieve success in this on a commercial scale we cannot be sure that we will have enough supplies to plan largescale operations. No doubt such researches should be encouraged, but we should look at other fronts too. It is necessary for research on crop biotechnology in India to be focused on our important crops, especially those related to food security.

We have to bear in mind that the application of biotechnology may not have any major impact on food security in India in the next five years, though crops of industrial value and vegetables may benefit to some extend. Therefore, we will still need to depend upon conventional agricultural technologies even while we target biotechnology for future oriented applications. Internationally, no major breakthrough in improvement of wheat strains has occurred lately. Hybrid rice is more productive. China had a few major initial success in increasing the yield through largescale use of hybrid rice. India has begun use of hybrid rice recently and there are plans to increase it. But it may be denoted that in recent years there has been no further improvement in Chinese production of rice. Still, hybrid rice will play an important role in India, as we are yet to introduce it on a large scale.

There are a number of improvements in agricultural implements, machinery, plastics, water technologies, agrochemicals and fertilizers which are possible and are well within the country's reach. There is an urgent need to conserve water in a number of ways: ranging from water harvesting to drip irrigation. There are a number of good examples in India of water harvesting though these are in isolated pockets. Israel has made water conservation a national policy and has achieved remarkable results. India with its size and

70.

with better endowments in water resources can make miracles happen. A major industry can grow around such agriculture support systems.

There also other technologies which can contribute a great deal to agriculture. We need to use all available methods because the coming years are not going to be easy on the food front. Let us look at one, s.p.a.ce technology.

Remote sensing or taking electronic pictures of the earth from s.p.a.ce is extensively used for a.s.sessing natural resources, land degradation and water resources as well as to predict crop yield and snow melt, among other things. Some developed countries monitor crop yields of other countries to help their own exports. India is strong in the area of remote sensing technologies. We have our own high resolution remote sensing satellites whose pictures are all over the world commercially. We also have excellent capabilities in utilizing remotely sensed data for various applications: groundwater targeting, soil salinity a.s.sessment, crop yield estimates, and so on. In addition, s.p.a.ce technology can be used very effectively to a.s.sist extension work: disseminate success stories to farmers, educate them on dos and don'ts, and to help them ask questions through satellite. A number of experiments conducted by ISRO in this regard in Haryana and Madhya pradesh have to be taken up by other states in a major way. Our farmers should and can be given facilities to keep pace with advances in agricultural technology. Yes, it is a lot of effort. But we have plenty of talent and also the resources. As shown in the chapter on services, providing these facilities in different languages, party with public support and partly through various business houses and private bodies, can become a good source of employment generation by it self.

Specific and urgent measures needed Our country is and will continue to be a major producer and consumer of wheat and rice.

The areas presently under wheat and rice are restricted and are becoming unsustainable in the face of growing demand. Therefore, several immediate steps that will ensure stability in production are: a) Broaden the production area of wheat in eastern UP, Bihar, Orison, West Bengal and the NorthEast.

b) Increase rice production in traditional areas by adopting hybrid rice.

c) Increase production of coa.r.s.e grains in central India and develop various

71.

Products, which can partly, subst.i.tute rice and wheat. Food technology should be developed as an important area for both domestic as well as export markets d) Make central India the production center of vegetables and fruits, and make efforts to make these commodities available at a lower price. This will have an effect on the consumption of rice and wheat. A similar effort is needed in a big way in the indogenetic plains in winter e) Greater emphasis on tuberous crops such as potato, tapioca and sweet potato to make them available cheaper rates.

f) There is a shortage of pulses but not of protein in the country. On the basis of 50gm proteins per capita, 18 million tones of protein is needed for onebillion strong population. Milk, eggs, fish and meat alone provide 11 million tones of high quality proteins and more than 25 million tones come from cereals, pluses, oil seeds, fruits, vegetables and other sources. However, meeting the demand of pulses will remain a priority because of dietary habits.

g) Since vegetable and fruit consumption will increase in future, an appropriate choice considering agroclimate, input needs, economic returns should be arrived at for every region. Cold storage and long distance transport essential requirements for this purpose h) Animals product will be great demand therefore efforts to be link production, processing and marketing to be undertaken for each individual product involvement of the private sector may prove very advantages i) Land and water are most the important resources for agriculture, and we have them in adequate measure. India is one of the few countries where nearly 50 per cent of the geographical area is arable, a benefit not available to china or USA.

However, per capital availability of land is continuing to decline, leading to still smaller, uneconomical holdings. Their size makes it nearly impossible to make sufficient investments in inputs, and increasing production from them is a difficult proposition. A strategy is needed whereby small farmers don't lose owners.h.i.+p and yet become a part of a larger area of cultivation. Could the private sector be involved in this effort? Different options/models have to be considered on the is (j) Water should be treated as a national resource and a.s.set .Since the share of

72.

agriculture in water supply will decrease, it is essential that wateruse efficiency improves. Sprinkle and drip irrigation are necessary in many areas, as also the recycling of water. The storage of water of agriculture in water supply will decrease, it is essential that wateruse efficiency improves. Sprinkle and drip irrigation are necessary in many areas, as also the recycling of water. The storage of water during floods or heavy rain, including ground storage, is a crucial national task. Wherever possible, particularly for horticultural crops, efforts should be made to introduce modern methods of irrigation. Multiple industries need to take part.

(k) Diseases and insect pests, loss of microbial flora from soils and other such factors add to the loss of crop production and cause un sustainability. The use of synthetic pesticides is considered a health hazard. In some areas even groundwater has been polluted. An approach which would consider host plants, climatic factors, use of biological agents and chemicals needs to be evolved. This would be region and season specific. Hence, it would have to be a highly knowledgebased approach.

The Indian approach to food security is not to be restricted or limited to just meeting our own demands. An a.n.a.lysis of table 4.1 reveals that it can be converted to our advantage. We should target exports as well, as an integral part of our strategy.

Imagine the influence this would give the country, be it in geopolitics, business and in other strategic considerations.