National Policy on Agricultural Science

In a developing country with overflowing food grain stocks, a liberalizing economy set on a growth path, and techno bureaucracy willing to pursue new technologies with a reasonable open mind, the situation seems ripe for agricultural biotechnology. The investment in this sector is picking up and the private sector has been given a pivotal role along with synergistic public investment. Top Indian policy makers argue that biotechnology will provide food security to the hungry but do not explain as to why should hunger exist at all in India with its overflowing food stocks, if the issue was only supply! Activists also make a case for biotechnology so long as it increases productivity. The case of Bt cotton in Gujarat shows that his new technology indeed increases productivity, profits of the farmer and eliminates the need for excessive sprays of chemical pesticides.