How technology can boost Indian agriculture
Present circumstances:
- The agricultural sector and its related sectors are the backbone of the Indian economy.
- While it holds the G20 presidency, the Indian government is encouraging technology-enabled sustainable farming, including natural, regenerative, and organic systems, keeping this in mind as well as a sustainable future.
The agricultural sector requires further development:
- The production of food grains in India has reached 330 MT, and the country has achieved food security, but there is still a lack of coarse cereals, pulses, oilseeds, and vegetables.
- Additionally, a large portion of the populace cannot afford them, which results in a big number of child wasting (19.3%), a high proportion of under- and malnourished persons, and other problems.
- In order to improve agricultural profitability and its export share in the global market, India must narrow the productivity gap between potential and actual levels for the bulk of grain crops and vegetables.
- By reducing the price of production
- promoting nutrient-dense crops like millets and their consumption, and
- Accentuate the superiority of the agricultural products.
- It is critical to secure the availability of high-quality seeds and optimise each seed’s performance value because seeds are the most significant input in agriculture.
- A growing population, unusual weather patterns, and natural disasters brought on by climate change are just a few of the issues that agriculture sectors are currently coping with. The upshot could be more challenges for Indian and regional agriculture, which is mainly by smallholder farmers.
- India hasn’t yet succeeded to the extent that was expected in achieving the SDGs, particularly goals one, two, and three, which are concerned with agriculture.
- To ensure that India accomplishes the goals for food and nutrition security and the population’s well-being in a sustainable manner, it is essential to effectively utilise all available technology, including traditional knowledge in agriculture.
The seed sector’s contribution to India’s expanding agricultural sector:
- The establishment of the National Seeds Corporation in the 1960s provided a strong foundation for the Indian seed industry, which was subsequently bolstered by several beneficial policies and regulatory support starting in the late 1980s.
- With the enactment of the Protection of Plant Varieties & Farmers Rights Act in 2001 and the release of Bt cotton hybrids for industrial cultivation in 2002, a technology-driven seed business started to take shape. These changes benefited the industry and helped Indian farmers become more productive.
- The seed industry should focus on promoting varieties and technology in order to combat the significant risks posed by climate change.
Increasing use of technology in the seed sector:
- Since millets are nutrient-rich, hardy, and grown in a short cycle, they are renowned for being appropriate for sustainable agriculture.
- The largest producer of millet in the world is India. By producing seeds of modified millets, especially minor millets, with quality assurance, it has the potential to dominate the global seed market.
- The advancements in seed technology can boost seed production and quality while also enabling them to thrive in a range of conditions.
- Therefore, in the upcoming years, the deployment of molecular technologies, tools for quick breeding and gene editing, and seed technologies will guarantee good performance even in unfavourable, unpredictable, and hostile environments.
- Therefore, seed science must now mix genetic innovation with applied technologies in order to develop quality-enhanced seeds of superior kinds with greater yield, high input utilisation efficiency, and the ability to withstand a variety of biotic and abiotic stressors.
- Public and commercial sector R&D efforts can complement one another to produce more affordable, environmentally friendly seeds.
Seed-based technology would include:
- Technology development in the seed business will result in
- genetic engineering used to create kinds that complies with regulations;
- physiologic advancement regimes, priming, pelleting with or without active substances, and film coating;
- Biostimulants and nutrients for faster seedling establishment and increased germination; chemical or biological insecticides with systemic or contact modes of action applied to seeds;
- Making “clean and green” planting materials for horticultural crops as well as putting AI-responsive sensors and other parts in seed to help modulate plant responses to environmental stimuli.
- For e.g. India is making use of the most common priming and film coating technologies to enhance seed handling, precision planting, and use as carriers of pesticides, fertilisers, growth promoters, and microbial inoculum.
- In order to ensure that seeds perform well in a range of developmental conditions, priming and enhancement methods are increasingly important.
- These are especially useful in agro-ecoregions that frequently encounter abiotic stresses including wetness, temperature, and other abiotic hazards or are prone to illnesses and insect damage.
- Such treatments may be made more successful by the genotype of the seed or by operating independently of it.
- A robust regulatory framework covering high-quality seedlings and planting supplies is required by the recently proposed “Clean Green Mission” by the Government of India as part of its commitment to “Green Development” at the G20 summit.
- The integration of chemicals or metabolites that operate as metabolic cues in biological pathways, or AI-based responses from seeds in response to certain environmental conditions (such as moisture or temperature), might all be examples of “Next Gen” technology in use.
- Therefore, supportive regulatory guidelines will aid in the general use of any technology, including seed technologies.
Conclusion:
- As a result, new seed technologies offer substantial advantages for sustainable agriculture at relatively low additional cost, supported by scientific validation and favourable regulatory frameworks.
