“The Prime Purpose of Science and Technology is not to change the Universe but :To get the answers of some of the queries about Our-selves And to make it a Boon for the Humanity”

Carl Sagan(1934 –1996)

INNOVATION

The word innovation comes from the Latin “Innovatus”

and is defined as

“the ability to manage change as an opportunity, not

as a threat.”• The future of crop production will, to a significant extent,

depend on innovation and how successful developers of biotech crops will be in pursuing innovation through a sequential Three ‘I’ Strategy – Ingenuity, Innovation and Implementation.

Agriculture is at the Center of Society’s Most Important Debates Today

New technologies are needed to address these challenges effectively

• Global food security• Increasing food, feed & fiber

demand driven by increasing population & income levels • In seven out of the last eight

years, the world has consumed more grain than it produced.

• Water availability• Depleting water table

• Growing demand for Biofuels •

• Global warming• CO2 footprint• Fertilizer use

Breeding & Biotech and Agronomic Practices are Critical for Improving Production and Food Security

Production

Area

Productivity

Breeding (Seeds) & Biotech

Plant nutrition

Irrigation

Agronomic practices

Technology, research innovations critical to

constantly improve seeds

Fertilizer penetration high but scope to improve

balance of fertiliser types

Well irrigation overused, canals investment intensive

Training can play crucial roleMechanization may be

necessary

A Holistic action plan will help Indian Agriculture reach its full Potential

Significant growth potential

Moderate potential

Limited potential, constrained lever

30000 Genes 3 %of total DNA

2 M stretchable per cell

1953Annus mirabillis Queen Crowned Everest climbed DNA unzipped

Max Perutz Nobel (Chemistry) 1962

We have discovered the secret of life.

F. Crick

Remarks in Eagle

Francis and I were running against God, in the sense that we wanted to know what made us human. Both of us had been subjected to religious truths which came by revelation, and we didn’t have much acceptance of truths by revelation. We wanted to know really what we were. We were both very curious about what life was. What is life? And that thinking led us to “What is a gene?”

James Watson

Modern Biology

Physics

Information technology

Medicine

COMP. Engineering

Chemistry

Mathematics

Biology

It declares that we are physical machines that have somehow learned to think and are reprogrammable.

Jeff St SchellE Nester M d Chilton M Gordon Marc van Montagu

Asilomar Conference Feb. 1975Mandate: No pathogenic to be tinkered

Adopted by USA

In the wild, you study it, in agriculture and restoration, you tweak it.

CROPAlfa Alfa

Broccoli

Cabbage

Canola

Corn

Cotton

Eggplant

Poplar

Potato

Rice

Soybean

Tobacco

Tomato

TOXIN cry1Ca

cry1C

cry1Ab

cry1Ac

cry1Ab, cry9c

cry1Ab, cry1Ac, cry2Ab

cry1Ab, cry3A

cry1Aa, cry3Aa

cry1Ab, cry1Ab, cry3Aa

cry1Ab, cry1B, cry1Ac, cry2A &GNA,cry1Ab, cry1Ac

cry1Ac

cry1Aa, cry1Ab, cry1Ab & dcpTcry1Ab, cry1Ac, cry1C,cry2A, cry2A

cry1Ab, cry1Ac

TARGET INSECT

Spodopteru litoralis

Plutella xylostella

P. Xylostella

Thrichoplusia ni, Spodoptera exigua Heliothis virescenes, Helicoverpa zea, P. Xylostella

Ostrinia nubilalis, O. Nubilalis

H. virescens, H. zea, S. exigua, Pseudophisia includers

Leucinodes orbonalis, Leptinotora decemlineata

Lymantria dispar, Chrysomela tremulae,

Phthorimaea operculella, Heliothis armigera,

Chilo supressalis, Cnaphalocrosis medinalis, C. medinalis, Scirpophaga incertulas, Nilaparvata hugens

H. virescens, H. zea, P. Inchudens

Mandura sexta, H. virescens, H. zea, S. litoralis, H. armigera, H. virescens, S. exigua

H. viescens,, H. armigera

The

Ingress

of

BT

Crops

1996

1995

Bt Cotton has reduced insecticide sprays, increased yield

• Bt cotton provides in built protection to cotton against bollworms– Bt in spray form has been used since 1950s & recommended

in organic farming too

• Cotton yield almost doubled from 302kgs/Ha in 2002-03 to 567 kgs/Ha in 2007-08 (Cotton Advisory Board)– India from the 2nd largest importer in 2002 has become the 2nd

largest exporter in 2008– Studies indicate additional value creation of Rs. 40,000 crores

in the value chain annually (Rs. 25,000 crores to farmers & labour)

• With significant health and environmental benefits– An estimated 20,000 Mt of active-ingredient sprays of

insecticide reduced annually– UAS Dharwad in a study concluded significant reduction in

health hazards among cotton farm workers linked with insecticide applications

– PAU study confirmed reduction in pesticide costs and ultimately checking of suicides among farmers

Non Bt Cotton

Bio-safety conclusions• Bt-cotton has the same food, feed and environmental

characteristics as non-Bt cotton

• There is no difference in allergenicity between Bt and non-Bt

cotton

• Bt cotton is not toxic to mammals including ruminants, birds,

fish, beneficial and non-target insects

• Risk from pollen flow is negligible

Bt cotton is substantially equivalent to non-Bt cotton Bt cotton is substantially equivalent to non-Bt cotton

Efficient Weed Control is a Key Challenge as Weeds Cause Significant Yield Losses

•Arranging farm labour has become a significant challenge for farmers during critical crop stages•Weeds cause yield losses of around Rs. 1 lakh

crores globally, of which 3/4d is in developing world (source: Directorate of Weed Research, Jabalpur)

•Herbicide tolerant crops offer farmers a choice to better manage their weed control operations, improve efficiency of farm operations and obtain higher crop yields

o Cotton & Corn HT traits under field trials in India

Weeds do not hit the headlines like droughts, insect plagues or even swine flu, but cause substantial human misery, quietly and constantly”- Ricardo Labrada-Romero, Weed Expert of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

COLLABORATION WITH

World’s First Drought Tolerant Corn ready for Launch in 2012 in USA

DROUGHT TOLERANT CORN FAMILY: LEAD PROJECTCOLLABORATION WITH

Control With Gene Corn with Drought Gene

Drought Tolerant Cotton will be a Boon for all Rainfed Farmers

DROUGHT-TOLERANT COTTON

CONTROLWITH GENECONTROLWITH GENE

GENE 1 GENE 2

TESTING MULTIPLE GENES FOR IN-FIELD PROOF OF CONCEPT

COLLABORATION

WITH

“For fame is not achieved by sitting on feather cushions or lying in bed" Dante - In Divina Commedia.

Miracle Rice - The Key to Saving Millions From VAD: A Tour De Force in biotechnology by Ingo Potrykus

1992-1999

Golden Rice 2 to be out by 2011Humanitarian Golden Rice Network President Ingo Potrykus$20 million grant from Gates Foundation and Rotary International

Nitrogen Utilization Trait Offers Tremendous Benefits to Farmer, Government and Environment

• PROVIDES BENEFITS to both FARMERs AND ENVIRONMENT

Nitrogen Utilization Corn:•Can potentially boost yield under normal nitrogen conditions or stabilize it in low nitrogen environments

•Under limited nitrogen conditions, lead trait has demonstrated yield advantages over multiple years•Can reduce agriculture’s overall impact on the environment

Nitrogen Facts•Only 40-60% of Nitrogen applied to corn is taken up and used during the first year•Govt. of India spends ~Rs. 1 lakh crores annually on fertiliser subsidy and Nitrogen fertilisers are key•N2O is ~290X more potent greenhouse gas than CO2

All the countries in EU (except 5) are cultivating or conducting field trials of Biotech crops

7 Countries in EU are Planting Biotech Crops; 40 Biotech Crop Events are Approved For Food, Feed & Cultivation in EU

• EU imports 40 million Mt of biotech Soybean every year

• EU imports 4 – 6 million Mt of biotech Maize products from US every year

MIL

LIO

N A

CRES

GLOBAL BIOTECH ACRES

The rapid Adoption of Biotech across the World confirm Significant Benefits to Farmers & Society

• 55 countries in the world have approved & are consuming biotech products• 25 countries in the world (Asia, North & South America, EU, Australia Africa) are planting biotech crops• Total of 539 product approvals of 107 biotech events in 21 crops have been granted across the world till 2006.

SOURCE: ISAAA estimates

Bt Cotton

Tobacco

Tearless Onion

Wheat

Soya

Coffee

Potato

Tea

There Are Number of Biotech Food Crops Planted Around The World

Crop Country Planting Biotech Trait

Sweet Pepper China Virus tolerance

Papaya China, USA Virus tolerance

Tomato China, USA Delayed ripening

Sugarbeet USA, Canada Herbicide tolerance

Squash USA Virus tolerance

Maize 17 countries Insect & Herbicide tolerance

Soybean 10 countries Herbicide tolerance

Canola 4 countries Herbicide tolerance

Six biotech crops are planted in China currently and 3 of them are food cropsChina has announced commercial Bt Rice cultivation within one yearChina currently spends the highest amount in the world on agricultural biotech research

Source: ISAAA, 2008

25 Nobel Prize winners & 3,400 prominent scientists have concluded that GM crops are a “powerful and safe” way to improve agriculture and the environment

• 1.4 crores farmers in 25 countries plant biotech crops

• 90% of biotech crop farmers today are from developing countries

• A cumulative 170 crores biotech acres have been harvested

• Over half the world’s 6.5 billion people live in the 25 countries where biotech crops are grown

Global Impacts of Biotech Crops since 1996:

Increased net income for farmers by more than Rs. 25,000 crores in 2005

Reduced pesticide applications by almost 286 million kgs

Decreased greenhouse gas emissions (CO2) by 10 billion kgs in 2005

55% of this increase went to farmers in the developing world in 2005

Equivalent to removing almost 40 lakh cars from the road for 1 year

Sources: G. Brookes, PG Economics 2006

Increased net income for farmers by more than Rs. 1.35 lakh crores in these 10 years

Benefits of Biotech Crops have been Demonstrated Globally

FUTURE PROSPECTS – World

• Drought tolerant maize – 2012 • Golden Rice (Vitamin A) – 2013 • Bt Rice – before MDG of 2015 (potential benefit 1 billion poor

people in rice households in Asia alone) • Biotech crops can make an enormous contribution to the

2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of cutting poverty in half, by optimizing crop productivity in a proposed global initiative to honor the legacy of ISAAA’s founding patron, and Nobel Peace Laureate, Norman Borlaug, who saved 1 billion people from hunger

1 Peaches

2 Apples

3 Bell Peppers

4 Celery

5 Nectarines

6 Strawberries

8Kale

7 Cherries

9 Lettuce

10 Grapes

11 Carrots

12 Pears

READS FUNNY BUT A REAL PICTURE OF MYTHS

In 2004 in America, voters in Mendocino County, California, banned the cultivation of GMOs in the county and at the same time legally redefined DNA as a protein.

A Judge in the Philippines asks just how strolling through a GM cornfield can cause a man to become gay.

Farmers in India are told that GE seeds carry a ‘Terminator gene’ that renders the seeds sterile and will infect other crops, causing them to be sterile too.

The president of Zambia rejected food aid for his country (in the midst of a terrible famine) as he was counseled that the GM corn food aid was poisonous.

Fables like these are also popular in GM Crops / Technology 2010

Bt Brinjal, a Thoroughly Studied Biotech Crop with Significant Benefits for Farmers & Consumer

* Rajya Sabha, 2003; Lok Sabha, 2005

Bt

Bt

nonBt

nonBt nonBt

nonBtnonBt

• Farmers spray up to 70 times (avg 25) in Brinjal crop to protect from Fruit & Shoot Borer (FSB) losses (app.. Rs. 120 crores on insecticides)

• FSB causes yield loss of 40 – 50% in Brinjal crop• Pesticide residue in vegetables is frequently

above allowable Maximum Residue Level*, product like Bt Brinjal offers a safer solution to consumers

• Bt Brinjal technology developed by Mahyco, TNAU, UAS Dharwad and IIVR. In addition Cornell University, USA, University of Philippines and Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institutes are also involved in the development

• 25 safety studies have been done by various Indian institutes on Bt Brinjal confirming its safety to environment, humans, animals, soil micro flora etc.

Indian farmers are the fastest adopters of Bt cotton – testimony to the significant value it creates

USA – Bt cotton 1996 – 2010China – Bt cotton 1998-2010 India – Bt cotton 2002-2010

Source: ISAAA Reports

In the first seven years itself, farmers in India had adopted Bollard a third faster than Chinese farmers, and twice as fast as US farmers.

Today, farmers plant Bollgard II and Bollgard on nearly 90 per cent of India’s cotton acres helping them save more, yield more and earn more.

Years of Adoption

Per cent adoption on cotton acres

Seed Biotech in 2011 – World Update

• 2011 is the 16th anniversary of farmers planting biotech crops (1996-2011)

• Accumulated hectares (1996- 2011) exceed 1 Bn. ha (equal to total area of USA or China)

• 90-fold increase in hectares (1996-2011) makes biotech the fastest adopted crop technology in the history of modern agriculture

• 30 countries plant biotech crops; top 10 countries each grew >1 Mn. ha. • 59% or ~4 billion people of world’s population live in the 29 countries

planting biotech crops • 15.4 Mn. farmers grew biotech crops – over 90%, or 14.4 million, were

small resource-poor farmers in developing countries• Eight European countries grew either Bt maize or the “Amflora” starch

potato (1st planting approval in 13 years in EU)

Scientific officials report on safety and benefits of biotech crops

“…in those countries where transgenic crops have been grown, there have been no verifiable reports of… health or environmental harm.”

- UN FAO

“…in those countries where transgenic crops have been grown, there have been no verifiable reports of… health or environmental harm.”

- UN FAO

World Health Organization Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO)

of the United Nations National Academy of Sciences (USA) Royal Society (UK) American Medical Association (USA) French Academy of Medicine European Commission U.S. Food & Drug Administration Society of Toxicology Institute of Food Technologists

Source: FAO, 2001.

25 Nobel Prize winners and more than 3,400 leading scientists have expressed their support for plant biotechnology as a “powerful and safe” way to improve agriculture and the

environment.

25 Nobel Prize winners and more than 3,400 leading scientists have expressed their support for plant biotechnology as a “powerful and safe” way to improve agriculture and the

environment.

Norman Borlaug1914-2009

The Nobel

Peace Prize 1970

There Are Number of Biotech Food Crops Planted Around The World

Crop Country Planting Biotech Trait

Sweet Pepper China Virus tolerance

Papaya China, USA Virus tolerance

Tomato China, USA Delayed ripening

Sugarbeet USA, Canada Herbicide tolerance

Squash USA Virus tolerance

Maize 17 countries Insect & Herbicide tolerance

Soybean 10 countries Herbicide tolerance

Canola 4 countries Herbicide tolerance

Six biotech crops are planted in China currently, 3 are food cropsChina is committed to commercialise Bt Rice in one yearChina currently spends the highest amount in the world on agricultural biotech research

Source: ISAAA, 2008

Biotechnology is a Scale Neutral Technology. Small/Marginal Farmers in India have Benefited the most by its adoption.

• 48 Lakh small & marginal cotton farmers are benefiting from Bt cotton in India

• Lakhs of farmers in Philippines, China, South Africa, Burkina Faso & other developing countries have benefited from these crops

• More than 90% of additional benefits of Bt cotton have gone to farmers*

• Bt cotton adoption increases returns to labour, especially for hired female workers. Likewise, aggregate household incomes rise, including the poor and vulnerable farmers. Hence, Bt cotton contributes to poverty reduction and rural development**

• Bt cotton generates additional employment, raising the total wage income by Rs. 2000 per hectare for hired female workers. This translates to about 42.4 crores of additional employment opportunities for female earners for the total Bt cotton area in India***

Land Holding Profit from Bt Cotton (Rs/Acre)

Marginal 10,385

Small 7,599

Medium 6,110

Large 5,009Source: AC Neilson Survey 2004

* Biotechnology and Pro-Poor Agricultural Development By NC Rao and SM Dev; Economics & Political Weekly** The Impact of Bt Cotton on Poor Households in Rural India By A. Subramanian and M. Qaim; Journal of Developmental Studies*** GM Crops and Gender Issues; Nature Biotechnology; May 2010

Biotech crops have no impact on the farmers’ ability to save seed. Farmers’ still retains the same option as with any other non-biotech seed