India: Biotech Could Lead To Self-Sufficiency

Matt Hopkins Posted by Matt Hopkins|4 March 2008

Clive James, chairman of the International Society for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), said that India could achieve food self-sufficiency with the help of biotech crops.

A Reuters article quoted James as saying that “India can become self sufficient in food production by use of biotechnology in food crops.”

India, which is one of the fastest-growing adopters of biotech crops driven by cotton, has shortages of wheat and edible oils, and a tight supply of rice. The country has launched a major food security mission aimed at producing an additional 8 million tonnes of wheat, 10 million tonnes of rice, and 2 million tonnes of pulses in 4 years.