Pawar bats for GM crops to ensure food security

Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today advocated introduction of genetically-modified food crops to meet foodgrains requirement, under the proposed National Food Security Bill.

“The ultimate solution to produce more (to achieve food security) requires quality seeds, whether hybrid or genetically-modified food,” Pawar said at a Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) meet here. Increasing farm production is imperative, as the proposed Bill would entail extra foodgrains procurement from the open market. It might affect supply side and prices, he said.

According to official data, the country’s foodgrains production stood at 218.2 million tonnes (mt) in 2009-10 crop year. While this year, the government has kept a target of 244.5 mt. The UPA government would require more than 65 mt of foodgrains to implement the proposed food Bill, according to the recommendations of National Advisory Council (NAC), Pawar had said yesterday.

This is higher than the government’s total procurement of 50-56 mt in the last two years. “There are many who think otherwise, and oppose new technologies,” Pawar said. Pawar, who was here to inaugurate the 9th edition of CII’s Agro Tech fair, highlighted the ‘revolution’ the Bt cotton had created in the country, adding how technology had catapulted India to the second position in the world, in terms of production of natural fibre. At present, the government has allowed genetically-modified seeds in non-food crops. Among food crops, the government has put a moratorium on the release of Bt brinjal, owing to opposition from various quarters.

Meanwhile, NAC made suggestions on the number of beneficiaries to be covered under the proposed Bill, and it is being examined by the expert panel constituted by the Prime Minister Office. NAC has suggested the government to grant a legal entitlement to subsidised foodgrains to at least 75 per cent of the country’s population through a reformed public distribution system from the next financial year.