Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 1: For global prosperity, food security is must and for future food security, traditional technologies have to be judicially blended with frontier technologies including one like biotechnology as tool.
This was stated by Prof RK Gupta in his presidential address during International Conference (BTBS-2012) organized by Society of Plant Research with NAAS and IARI (ICAR) as event partners at New Delhi.
In country like India where we got record food grain of 250.5 million tones in 2011-12, the number of hungry was reported over 230 million, he added.
In era of climate change and variability, shrinking natural resources and for meeting demand of doubling production, available non controversial technologies have to be used sensibly but at much faster rate for improving production and productivity with focus on rainfed areas and small and marginal farmers, Prof Gupta said.
He also emphasized that regulatory policies need to be revised in controversial areas like GM crops, while considering the fact during 2012, over 160 million ha area was under transgenics in world and area in Bt cotton and cons was reported over 12 m ha in India.
Among others who spoke were Prof BS Gill, Dr TS Kahlon and Prem Jaur from US, Prof RB Singh, Chairman, NAAS, Dr Manju Sharma, Former Secretary, DBT, Dr SK Sopory, VC JNU, Dr SK Bhatnagar, Founder Secretary General, SPR and Chairman Dr Akhlesh Tyagi, NK Singh and AS Dua from India.
Threadbare deliberations were made during panel discussion on Biotechnology and recommendations were compiled for the benefit of the policy maker and society.
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