HYDERABAD: The National Academy of Agricultural Research Management celebrated National Science Day today with a special lecture by E A Siddiq, member of the Prime Minister’s Scientific Advisory Committee. The lecture was on `Science towards food and nutritionally secure India’.
“Identification and exploitation of still unfolded yield genes in foodcrops is going to play an important role in increasing the foodgrain production in the country,” said E A Siddiq.
By 2025 80 million mouths would be added to feed demanding a productivity rise from 2.9 tonnes/hectare to 4.1 tonnes/hectare. Though there are many constraints to achieving the demand growth in India such as rain fed area, biotic and abiotic factors, gene exploitation would increase the crop yield.
Taking the Chinese experience in rice production, i.e. 14 tonnes/hectare, Dr Siddiq anticipated that it was not a huge task for India to reach the demand in the future in the area of foodgrain production through genetically modified crops.