Urges the govt to take concrete steps for the betterment of farmers
Eminent scientists and agriculture experts from Karnataka have demanded to allow Biosafety Regulatory Level 1 (BRL 1) field trials of Bt Cotton and maize in Karnataka. After the success of Bt Cotton in India, since 2002 no other crop (enhanced through biotechnology) has been released in India. While farmers have been demanding to get hold of such technologies to improve crop productivity and control insect attacks, nothing has been approved by the government so far.
Dr BV Patil, Former Vice-Chancellor and Senior Entomologist, University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur, Karnataka said, “Adoption of new innovative methods/ practices by the farming community will not only increase the food production which feeds the growing population but also make agriculture more sustainable and profitable to the farmers. Searching for new ideas i.e research should continue till we achieve our desired goal/objective. I recommend integrating GM technology as one of the technologies in pest management.”
Dr KK Narayan, Founder Director, Sthayika Seeds, Director and CEO, Agrigenome Labs, Director, Foundation for Advanced Training in Plant Breeding (ATPBR), said “ I strongly recommend that approval should be accorded to conduct field trials for these cotton and maize products so that the farmers of this country and the state can have the benefit of modern science in improving their productivity and farm incomes.”
Dr SA Patil, Former Director IARI and Former VC, University of Agriculture Sciences, Dharwad said, “I feel that the government has to act and encourage scientific dialogues with all the policymakers, technology developers and farming community. Decisions for a scientific matter through the public consultation may otherwise push the country many years back.”
The experts opined that the government and policymakers must educate the general public on the scientific advances that are being made globally to address the serious issues adversely impacting agricultural productivity. Policymakers will have to enable the development and evaluation of technologies in a reliable and time-bound manner.
