Activists who term biotechnology as evil, are often emotionally driven, and lack sound scientific proof to their claims against genetically modified (GM) crops, say industry experts. “The agitation against GM is by people who misunderstand the potential of biotechnology. We produce food grain varieties that grow in places that are imp-ossible to cultivate — during flood or drought — using traditional methods. There is much more to bio-technology than transgenic varieties. Such negativity has made the best talent in biotechnology to research in other areas such as pharmaceuticals, which is a loss to Indian agriculture,” said Pakki Reddy of the Agri Biotech Foundation, on the sidelines of the sixth Asian biotechnology and development conference.
Prof. Reddy said they were currently working on native cotton varieties, that would help the farmer make his own seeds. S.R. Rao, advisor, depart-ment of biotechnology said, “We have explained the upcoming Biotechnology Regulatory Act of India (Brai) to the public, gone around the country seeking a consensus. But all we could get was reactionary opposition that neither loo-ked into the positives of biotechnology, nor into the pressing need that a developing nation has in furthering resources, possible thr-ough genetic modification.”
Representatives from Bangladesh and Burkina Faso, who were present at the meeting, were all praise for the advances in biotechnology. These countries, which had almost no framework for biotechnology, during the previous edition of CoP in Japan in 2010, have all progressed and are now banking on biotechnology for the future, Dr Rao said.