Biotechnology may enable oilseed and pulse self-sufficiency: Dr Shivendra Bajaj

New Delhi : The ethos of ‘Make in India’ is helping India move towards industrial and economic independence. What therefore, allows agriculture to lag behind? While it is one of the top producers of agricultural commodities overall, India is nevertheless short in oilseeds and pulses. A major effort is being made to boost output and productivity so that India may stop relying on costly edible oil and pulse imports. Enhancing secondary agriculture requires investing in both human resource development and technology fixes.

India’s government has set a goal of increasing oilseed and pulse output by 40% to 54.1 million tonnes and 32.5 million tonnes respectively by 2025-26. About 65% of India’s annual need for edible oil is met by foreign imports, making this a crucial issue. The average worldwide yield from oilseeds per acre is 16 quintals, but in India it is just 10. In a similar vein, the average production of all pulses in India is 660 kg per hectare, whereas the global average is 909 kg. Therefore, we place a high priority on increasing agricultural yields.

The government has attempted a number of interventions, including diversifying crop types, guaranteeing higher pricing, and increasing access to high-quality seeds, in an effort to boost yields and productivity. When it comes to pulses, India dominates on both the supply and demand sides. In 2021-22, India produced 25-27 million tonnes of the protein-rich product, a massive increase of 48% over the previous decade. And now just 2.7 million tonnes are being brought in. Pulses imports are just 9 percent self-sufficient. By the conclusion of the current decade, projections show that it will have dropped to 3.6%.

However, due to a 4.3% drop in planted area of pulses this year, new issues have emerged. The cultivation of oilseeds, however, has increased by 9 percent. The government is providing farmers with access to high-yielding seed types as part of a targeted Kharif plan to increase the cultivation area and output of the three most important pulse crops: arhar, moong, and urad. There is not a lot of farmable land available. Increasing production requires a greater emphasis on enhancing productivity.

A push towards oilseeds and pulses among farmers is required. Education, improved crop protection and insurance solutions, price stability, and increased market connectivity are all viable options.

Simultaneously, we must increase output. High-quality seeds are crucial to producing healthy, abundant harvests. More edible oil may be produced from the same amount of oilseeds if the oilseeds are of higher quality. This will help close the supply-and-demand mismatch more quickly.

Conventional plant breeding techniques and seeds are inadequate to keep up with the ever-increasing food demand, both in India and throughout the globe, where the population is rapidly expanding. There is a current shortage of pulses and oilseeds, and if domestic demand continues to rise without corresponding increases in supply, we may face much greater difficulties. Therefore, we need to make use of the opportunities presented by biotechnological approaches. The poor productivity issue may be solved quickly and effectively using genome engineering technologies.

Genetically engineered seed types help ensure that agricultural practises have a minimal impact on the environment. They enable for the evolution of desirable characteristics in plants, such as increased yields, improved nutritional content, faster oil recovery rates, and disease resistance. In addition, methods like gene editing and genetic manipulation aid in curing plant illnesses. When this occurs, farmers need to use far less chemical pesticides and fertilisers. If given the go-ahead by the government, genetically modified mustard (GM Mustard) might increase yields by 25-30% compared to conventionally grown mustard.

Government is sure that GM mustard can lead to an increase in the domestic production of oilseeds and make the country self-sufficient. We are already facing the negative impacts of climate change, which is leading got crop loss. Genetic engineering can help us develop new traits in crops which are climate resilient and tolerant to pests, diseases, droughts, salinity, chilling, high temperatures and flooding, among others. Genetically engineered varieties are cost-effective, environment-friendly, and quick in giving intended results. If we put our trust in science and biotechnology, we can soon become self-sufficient in oilseeds and pulses.