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Modern Genetics as an Opportunity for Inclusive and Sustainable Agriculture

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Inclusive Innovation

Part of the book series: India Studies in Business and Economics ((ISBE))

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Abstract

This paper argues that new knowledge and technologies need not always be exclusionary. By using the concepts of the National Systems of Innovation (NSI) framework, the present study explores the potential of 1) Hybrid Rice Technology (HRT) and 2) genomics-based Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS) technology to address a) Bacterial Leaf Blight (biotic stress) and b) drought (abiotic stress) to improve rice crop in India. Scientists involved in the development and the applications of these technologies were interviewed as part of a case study during 2011–2012. The findings suggest that there is a need to integrate MAS protocols with the HRT to not only expand the scope and success of biotechnology to be more inclusive but also to avoid the extremely rigid appropriation of genetic material by a few actors. At the level of policy, efforts should aim at evolving interlocking technological and institutional innovations.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Now China is the largest rice-producing and rice-consuming country in the world. China’s rice accounts 30% of total food crop acreage while producing 40% of crop yield. In India, rice productivity is 3.3 tons per hectare. China’s productivity is almost double and is at 6.6 tons per hectare.

  2. 2.

    The NAP of 2000 is the only policy document that addresses Indian agriculture. Though it is not a policy document that has been accepted by the Government of India, passed by the executive and approved by the legislature as a policy goal or direction and set of policy instruments, this remains the only document worth quoting, that replaces the complete centrally controlled ad hocism that has been meted out to agriculture thus far (see Raina 2011).

  3. 3.

    It should be mentioned here that almost simultaneously in 1989 the Rockefeller Foundation, New York identified rice, the staple food crop of Asia, as a target crop for the application of molecular biology tools and initiated the International Rice Biotechnology Programme (IRBT).

  4. 4.

    The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPVFR) Act, 2001 allows to save, use, sow resow, exchange, share or sell his farm produce including seed of a variety protected under this Act in the same manner as he was entitled before the coming into force of this Act, provided that the farmer shall not be entitled to sell branded seed of a variety protected under this Act (see Chap. 6: Farmers’ Rights).

  5. 5.

    The State Agricultural Universities being heavily dependent on the ICAR for research funding and direction have little accountability to the local State Departments of Agriculture or the farming communities in the State.

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Acknowledgements

I am thankful to Dr. N. P. Sarma (a rice breeder formerly associated with DRR, Hyderabad), Dr. Ramsesh Sonti of CCMB, Hyderabad, Dr. Shailaja Hittalmani, UAS Bengaluru and other scientists for sharing valuable insights regarding hybrid rice and MAS technology. I thank my partners in the SIID project for their critical comments on an earlier version of the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Formerly with University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, 500 046, India

    Haribabu Ejnavarzala

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  1. Haribabu Ejnavarzala
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Correspondence to Haribabu Ejnavarzala .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of International Relations and Governance Studies, Shiv Nadar University, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Rajeswari S. Raina

  2. Gujarat Institute of Development Research, Ahmedabad, India

    Keshab Das

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Ejnavarzala, H. (2020). Modern Genetics as an Opportunity for Inclusive and Sustainable Agriculture. In: Raina, R., Das, K. (eds) Inclusive Innovation. India Studies in Business and Economics. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-3929-1_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-3929-1_7

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New Delhi

  • Print ISBN: 978-81-322-3927-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-81-322-3929-1

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