March 5, 2008

India could find solution of food and biofuel shortages in GM crops
 

India could achieve self-sufficiency once commercialisation of GM crops is allowed, according to a Reuters report quoting Clive James, chairman of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agribiotech Applications.

India is currently facing a severe shortage in grains and it imported 1.8 million tonnes of wheat last year despite being one of the top wheat producers in the world.

The country aims to achieve food security by trying to produce an additional 8 million tonnes of wheat, 10 million tonnes of rice and 2 million tonnes of pulses in four years' time.

The approval of GM food crops has been delayed due to protests from activists who claimed that GM crops are harmful to personal health.

However, India is now field-testing GM rice, which could be commercialised by 2011.

James believes that biotech can solve the global need for biofuel. However, application in jatropha, a biofuel crop, can only be made possible through the development of GM food, feed and fibre crops, which, according to James, is a technology that India is neglecting.