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HomePosts Tagged "Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS)"
Agribiotechnology, Agrotech, India, Seeds

 The event ‘National Symposium on Hybrid Technology for Enhanced Crop Productivity’ brought together about 300 stakeholders, including researchers, policymakers, representatives of CGIAR centres, and private sector leaders.

Leading agricultural experts have called for accelerated adoption of hybrid technology to address India’s growing food security challenges, climate change effects, and sustainable development goals. Speaking at the Inaugural Session of National Symposium on Hybrid Technology for Enhanced Crop Productivity, held on January 8, 2025, at the National Agriculture Science Complex (NASC), Pusa Campus, New Delhi, they emphasised the transformative potential of hybrid breeding and seed innovations to boost productivity and resilience in Indian agriculture.

Organised by the Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS) in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and Indian Society of Plant Genetic Resources (ISPGR), the symposium brought together  about 300 stakeholders, including researchers, policymakers, representatives of CGIAR centres, and private sector leaders. The event was supported by the Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII), Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company (MAHYCO), Rasi Seeds, and Bayer Crop Science Limited.

 Dr P. K. Mishra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, who inaugurated the symposium, highlighted the urgent need for hybrid technologies to ensure food and nutritional security for the country’s growing population. He highlighted that Hybrid technology has to play a role beyond just increasing yields. It should lead to equitable, inclusive and sustainable growth of economy. It should also lead to transformation of agriculture through increasing farmers’ incomes. Reducing poverty is very important and agriculture has an important role to play.

 He further mentioned that Hybrid research has to produce products that have higher productivity than OP Varieties. Example- Rice, Pulses and Oilseeds need high priority in hybrid research. We need to bring Hybrid Pigeon pea to market and scale it up. This will help in bridging availability gap in pulses. Similarly in oilseeds too we should increase productivity using hybrids. This is a priority for the country. Hybrids have to be affordable to smallholder farmers. If research can make farmers save hybrid seeds from one season to another season without losing heterosis, as they do with OP crops, it would be great scientific contribution to increasing farmers’ incomes.

Dr R.S. Paroda, Chairman, TAAS, stressed the importance of public-private partnerships to drive hybrid adoption. There is a greater importance and urgency for good hybrid technology. He emphasised that to have vertical improvement, hybrid crops do provide great opportunity, access to good quality seed is important, Green Revolution was innovation-led and focus needs to be given on innovations for breeding new hybrids. He stressed on need for a National Mission on Hybrid Development. Also, we need to have a clear policy on GM Crops, seed industry to be incentivised and the GST on sale of seed be exempted.

Dr. T. Mohapatra, Chairperson, PPVFRA, outlined the critical role of research and innovation in scaling hybrid technologies to mitigate climate challenges. Dr Stanford Blade, Director General, ICRISAT stressed on the need for accelerated improvement and public-private partnership in a consortium mode.

 Ajai Rana, Chairman, FSII, emphasized the necessity of enabling policies and collaborative frameworks to increase research for hybrid development and deployment of modern science and technology through effective research collaboration and partnership for access and benefit sharing.

 The event ‘National Symposium on Hybrid Technology

Agribusiness, India, Interaction, Seeds, Soil Health

Experts had a high-impact brainstorming session on “Public-Private Partnership in Agriculture: A Way Forward” organised by TAAS In collaboration with ICAR, FSII and NSAI.

Public private partnerships could hold the key to address many pressing challenges of agriculture including diffusion of innovation to farmers, scaling -up research and helping farmers get the right market linkages, experts said at a conference in New Delhi.

The Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS), in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII), and the National Seed Association of India (NSAI), organised a high-impact brainstorming session at the National Agricultural Science Complex (NASC), Pusa Campus titled “Public-Private Partnership in Agriculture: A Way Forward.”

Currently, India’s agricultural sector employs over 50 per cent of the country’s workforce and contributes about 17 per cent to the nation’s GDP. However, to sustain and boost this contribution, it is essential to adopt new technologies and practices. The private sector has shown tremendous potential in this regard, especially through advancements in biotechnology and improved seed varieties. By 2022, the adoption of genetically modified Bt Cotton had resulted in a 24 per cent increase in yield and a 50 per cent reduction in pesticide use, showcasing the transformative impact of private partnership.

Over 60 key stakeholders, including scientists, researchers, policy makers, and private sector representatives participated. The focus was on developing a clear Road Map to enhance Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in the agriculture sector to scale innovations for impact and benefit to farmers.

Dr RS Paroda, Founder Chairman, TAAS and Former Secretary DARE and DG, ICAR emphasized an urgent need for PPP collaboration, stating, “Indian agriculture is at a crossroads. To meet the increasing demand for food and to address the challenges of climate change, we must leverage the strengths of both public and private sectors. Effective PPPs are essential to upscale and outscale innovations for sustainable agriculture.” He further added “The current public agricultural research investment is grossly insufficient, therefore, there is a need to explore the options to enhance agricultural research investment in a partnership mode. We need to accelerate annual growth in agriculture to at least 4 per cent, thus contributing around USD 1 trillion from agriculture to achieve India’s projected USD 5 trillion economy”

The Chief Guest Dr T. Mohapatra, Chairperson, PPV&FRA emphasized that public-private partnerships are effective means to address the existing challenges and unlock new opportunities to enhance agricultural growth and development.

Ajai Rana, Chairman, FSII, highlighted the critical role of seed industry in transforming agriculture. “The private seed sector has already made significant contributions, especially in the area of genetically modified crops like Bt Cotton. However, there is immense potential for further advancements through strategic PPPs. Our goal is to develop and disseminate high-quality seed varieties that can revolutionize Indian agriculture,” he remarked.

Stakeholders were unanimous in realising considerable strength in both public and private research institutions. However, such potential can effectively be tapped through highly focused PPP Projects of national importance. What urgently effective collaboration in research, access and benefit sharing and the enabling policies.

Ram Kaundinya, Advisor, FSII, added, “Market-driven research and the adoption of advanced technologies such as genome editing are crucial. Through strengthened PPPs, we can ensure that innovations in high priority areas are not only developed but reach our farmers soon for enhancing productivity and profitability.”

Experts had a high-impact brainstorming session on