Stringent safety norms in agri sector after NBRA: Centre

A more stringent safety regime will be in place for genetic engineering in agriculture or medical sciences once the National Biotechnology Regulatory Authority (NBRA) Bill is cleared by Parliament, a senior official said here today.
"The NBRA bill has been introduced in Parliament and being debated. Once it (bill) is cleared, a more stringent safety regime shall be in place for genetic engineering be it in the agriculture space or medical sciences," said S R Rao, Scientist 'G' Department of Biotechnology Government of India.
He was addressing a gathering of farmers at ongoing Vibrant Gujarat Global Agriculture Summit-2013.
The authority is proposed to be an autonomous and statutory agency to regulate the research, transport, import, manufacture and use of organisms and products of modern bio-technology, he said.

India has signed UN convention on biodiversity and Cartagena Protocol on bio-safety, which calls for a regulatory authority.
Making a strong pitch for adoption of bio-technology in agri sector, Rao said the spurt in Cotton production in India has set an example for adoption of technology.

The cotton production has been growing at a CAGR of 4.38 per cent, Rao said, adding other crops like pulses and others are still in negative territory.
According to experts, after switching over to BT Cotton, the yield in India has shot up from 328 kg per hectare to 491 kg per hectare in 2012, while acreage under the crop has gone up from 78 lakh to 120 lakh hectares.

Experts estimate that around 93 per cent of area in the country is now under BT Cotton even though disease-related issues continue to persist.
Rao said India ranked seventh in the world with 140 million hectares of area under cultivation. "...And if the crop productivity has to be increased from 100 per cent to 250 per cent in an acre of land, then 80 per cent of contribution can come through adoption of bio-technology", he added.