Biotechnology
Biotechnology is called the science of 21st century. It has a tremendous potential to solve problems of the agriculture sector, and can be a powerful tool to cope with the existing food insecurity. I talked with the Head of the Dept of Biotechnology (BAU)and national coordinator of ISAAA(Intl service for the acquisition of agribiotech) Dr. K M Nasiruddin about different issues on agribiotech. He said that the ever increasing population, limited cultivatable land and increasing demand for alternative energy sources has led to increasing application of the biotechnology techniques in the Indian agricultural arena. Various research institutes and departments of the government of India and other state governments are directing their efforts on exploring and exploiting newer technologies for enhancing farm production and increasing productivity. But here in Bangladesh the biotech issue is still not receiving due attention.
In India, with the approval of Bt-cotton for commercial cultivation in April 2002, more and more seed companies are seeking technologies like genetic modification for insect protection. There is also an increasing use of molecular markers in crop breeding.
With the enactment of the Plant Breeder's Rights and Farmer's Rights bill, there is a growing demand for molecular fingerprinting of germ plasm lines to assert one's ownership of crop varieties and hybrids. In India, There is a growing realisation that some of these new technologies will lead to future growth in crop productivity and quality.
The ability to develop or source these technologies will determine the future leaders of the agriculture industry in our country. It is high time to rethink about agribiotech development in Bangladesh. It has tremendous potential to establish food security in this region.
Introduction of high yielding GM crops, efficient techniques such as gene transfer, tissue culture etc. will help scientists achieve the results at the minimum social and economic costs.
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