Is adopting biotechnology in farming the answer to India’s growing demand for food in future? Experts exchanged arguments for and against it at a seminar on Monday.
“Food production should be in the hands of the masses, it cannot be left to a few companies. We have plenty of food. We should concentrate our efforts on distribution and improving access,” said chairman, Forum for Biotechnology & Food Security, Devinder Sharma.
Scientist C Kameshwar Rao did not agree. “Current surpluses should not keep you happy. We will need more as the population goes up,” he said.
Sharma said he was not against biotechnology but was against the way developed countries were endangering Indian farmers’ livelihood. Rao repeated that biotechnology should not be demonised and science should not be blamed for management problems. “Don’t dismiss technology before understanding it,” he said.
Principal of University College of Law CS Patil said they trust the technology but doubt the management. He said with the kind of administration we have, we could not afford to take risks and thus should not be experimenting with technology whose adverse effects we are not sure of.
“Biotechnology should not be taken as a property of multinationals. It would be a disservice to society to reject it on these grounds,” said Dr M Mahadevappa, director JSS Rural Development Foundation, Mysore.
Green revolution blamed
Vanaja Ramaprasad, founder and director of Green Foundation, said green revolution had not kept its promise and in fact had resulted in erosion of top soil.
Sharma expressed similar thoughts. He said India needed to revert to sustainable farming, rejuvenate water resources and enrich soil. He said farmers should be given direct income support and not minimum support price.
