IndiaÕs Independence was won in the backdropof the great Bengal famine of 1942-43. Nowonder, our first Prime Minister, JawaharlalNehru said early in 1948, everything else canwait but not agriculture. Thanks to the packages oftechnology, services and public policies introducedsince the beginning of the first Five Year Plan in1950, the country has transformed itself from aÔbegging bowlÕ image to one which occupies the firstor second position in terms of production and areain several major crops.

We also occupy the first position in milkproduction globally. India ranks second in fish

culture and third in capture fisheries. We have beenable to build substantial buffer stocks of food grains,in spite of increasing demand due to risingpopulation. The per capita food grain availabilityhas also increased by one and a half times.

CROP IMPROVEMENT AND PRODUCTIONWheat: Wheat has been cultivated for severalthousand years in India. Wheat grains have beenfound in the Mohenjadaro excavations. These havebeen identified as belonging to Triticum aestivumsub-species sphaerococcum, characterized byspherical shape and dwarf plant stature. From thedays of Mohenjadaro up to the dawn of India'sIndependence in 1947, the country developed thecapacity to produce about 6 million tonnes of wheat.It was not sufficient to meet the demand, leading tolarge-scale importation of food grains.

In addition to strengthening of research andorganization of a national extension service, severalmeasures to stimulate food production includingland reforms, irrigation, fertilizer production wereinitiated in the fifties. Production of wheat and rice

P U R S U I T A N D P R O M O T I O N O F S C I E N C E 215

AGRICULTURE

India's share in the worldproduction and area for major

crops (1995 – 97)Crops India's Share (%) India's Rank

Production Area Production Area

Wheat 11.4 11.2 2 2

Rice 21.4 28.5 2 1

Coarse Grains 3.4 9.0 5 3

Potatoes 6.2 6.0 5 5

Pulses 26.0 36.6 1 1

Groundnut 28.6 35.2 1 1

Sugarcane 22.6 20.0 2 2

Tea 28.3 18.5 1 2

Tobacco 8.3 8.7 3 2

Jute 52.5 51.5 1 1

Cotton (Lint) 14.0 20.7 3 1

Source: FAO, 1997

Growth in food grain productionand population during the

last 50 years1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Food grain production(mt) 50.8 82.0 108.4 129.6 176.4 201.6

Food grain import(mt) 4.8 10.4 7.5 0.8 0.3 -

Buffer stock(mt) - 2.0 - 15.5 20.8 40.0

Population (million) 361 439 548 683 846 1000

C H A P T E R X X I

went up but productivity per unit area of landremained practically stagnant. Enhancedproduction came from an increase in both totalcropped area and irrigated area. Wheat productionwent up to 12 million tonnes in 1964, which fromthe point of view of monsoon behaviour, was a goodagricultural year. In order to enhance productivityin irrigated areas, the Government of India initiatedthe Intensive Agricultural District Programme(IADP) in 1961. The aim was to introduce goodseeds and a package of agronomic practices whichcan help optimize the benefit from irrigation water.Unfortunately, the early IADP experience was notencouraging. It was found that the package ofpractices promoted had one important missingingredient, namely varieties which can respond wellto good irrigation and soil fertility management. Itis this missing ingredient that was provided in 1966

through the High YieldingVarieties Programme (HYVP) inwheat, rice, maize, sorghum(jowar) and pearl millet (bajra).Wheat production rose to nearly17 million tonnes in 1968. Afterseveral thousand years, thestagnation in yield was broken inwheat. Since similar productivityimprovement was also visible inrice, the phenomenon has beendescribed as "Green Revolution".

Wheat crop has exhibited arobust growth trend since theonset of the Green Revolution in1968. In 2001 our farmersharvested nearly 74 milliontonnes of wheat, while the wheatharvest at the time of our

Independence was only 6 million tonnes. Much ofthe increase in wheat production has come fromproductivity improvement. Had this not occurred,we would have required nearly 74 million ha of areain contrast to the current actual area of about 26.7million ha. It is rightly described as "land savingagriculture", since the pathway of productionimprovement is higher productivity. "Forest-savingagriculture" may be even more appropriate term,

P U R S U I T A N D P R O M O T I O N O F S C I E N C E216

Green Revolution: Release of a postage stampentitled ÔWheat RevolutionÕ to commemorate

quantum jump in wheat production by Indira

Gandhi in July 1968 at the Indian Agricultural

Research Institute, New Delhi.

since agricultural expansion is often at the expenseof forest area. Such phenomenal progress has beenpossible because of the introduction of mutuallyreinforcing packages of technology, services andpublic policies through the High Yielding VarietiesProgramme introduced by the Government of Indiain 1966. Yield improvement in wheat is one of themost exciting adventures in the field of agriculturalscience not only in our country but in the entireworld.

B.P. Pal initiated the wheat improvementprogramme at the Indian Agricultural ResearchInstitute (IARI), New Delhi. The emphasis of theprogramme of IARI was directed to achieve bothdisease resistance and yield. This ultimately resultedin varieties like NP 809 possessing a broad spectrumof resistance to stem, stripe and leaf rusts, and NP824 possessing ability to respond to about 50 kg ofnitrogen. In 1954, a research programme was startedfor developing non-lodging and fertilizerresponsive varieties of wheat. With the earlier tallvarieties it was difficult to get economic response

to the application of mineral fertilizers and adequateirrigation water. Average wheat yields stagnated atless than 1 tonne per ha. This is why the breedingof non-lodging varieties was accorded a highpriority during the fifties, when the country hadtaken to the path of expanding the area underirrigation and manufacturing of mineral fertilizers.Unfortunately, short and stiff straw was alwaysassociated with short panicles and fewer grains.

The breakthrough came in March, 1961, whena few dwarf spring wheat strains possessing theNorin-10 dwarfing genes, developed by Norman E.Borlaug in Mexico, were grown in the fields of IARI.Their phenotype was most impressive. They hadreduced height and long panicles, unlike the earlierhybrids between T. aestivum and T. compactum and T.sphaeroccum and the induced erectoides mutants inwhich short height was coupled with small panicles.In 1964, a National Demonstration Programme wasstarted in farmers' fields both to verify the resultsobtained in research plots and to introduce farmersto the new opportunities opened up by semi-dwarf

P U R S U I T A N D P R O M O T I O N O F S C I E N C E 217

B.P. PAL

Benjamin Peary Pal (1906-1989) was born in a Hindu family atMukandpur in Punjab on May 26, 1906. After early education in Yangon,Myanmar, Pal moved to Cambridge and received his doctorate degree in1933. After returning to India, he joined the Imperial Agricultural ResearchInstitute at Pusa, Bihar (now IARI, Delhi) as Second Economic Botanist androse to become the InstituteÕs Director. He was the first Director-General ofICAR. Pal is known for his work on breeding wheat variety (New Pusa 809)resistant to all the three types of rust disease. He also introduced a highdegree of resistance to the smut disease. He is responsible for starting the All India Coordinated ResearchProjects for important Indian crops. It is through his initiative that the National Bureau of Plant GeneticResources came into existence. Pal was an institution builder, able administrator and a policy maker.He groomed a large number of scientists, who later became leaders in agricultural research in Indiaand abroad. He had a passion for ornamental plants and wrote authoritative books on roses. Many ofthe rose varieties bred by him are well-known.

B.P. Pal was a painter of landscapes and encouraged the arts. He was elected to the Fellowship ofINSA in 1946 and to Presidentship 1975. He was a foreign member of the All Union Lenin Academy ofSciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society, London. He was a humourous person and effused warmth.

varieties for improving very considerably theproductivity of wheat. When small farmers, withthe help of scientists, harvested over 5 tonnes ofwheat per hectare, its impact on the minds of otherfarmers was electric. The clamour for seeds beganand the area under high yielding varieties of wheatrose from 4 ha in 1963-64 to over 4 million ha in1971-72. This was because of the bold decision takenin 1966 at the instance of C. Subramaniam, the thenMinister for Food and Agriculture, to import 18,000tonnes of seed of the Mexican semi-dwarf varieties,Lerma Rojo 64A and Sonora 64.

The introduction of Lerma Rojo 64A andSonora 64 was followed by the release of KalyanSona and Sonalika, selected from the advancedgeneration material received from Mexico. Further,hybridization between Mexican strains and Indianvarieties resulted in many high yielding and rustresistant strains in different parts of the country.Mutation breeding for changing the red grain colourof Lerma Rojo 64A and Sonora 64 led to theproduction of Pusa Lerma and Sharbati Sonora.Crossing the semi-dwarf T. aestivum material withT. durum varieties produced semi-dwarf T. durumvarieties like Malavika. In all cases, attention waspaid to disease resistance and chapati making qualityof the grain. Above all, the dwarf wheats wouldnever have expressed their yield potential, withoutappropriate agronomic practices such as shallowseeding and giving the first irrigation at the crownroot initiation stage.

Anticipatory research to avoid potentialenvironmental problems was strengthened and awide variety of high yielding strains possessingresistance or tolerance to the principal disease-causing organisms were developed. This underlinesthe fact that agricultural scientists were fully aliveto the need for conducting an action-reactionanalysis while introducing new technologies. Suchawareness led to intensified efforts in varietaldiversification and to the pyramiding of genes fortolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. This is whywheat production had continued to show an

upward trend during the last 35 years. The Indianwheat varieties Sonalika, WL 711, HD 2009 and HD2172 are also popular in other countries likeBangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan,Sudan and Syria. In Sudan, wheat var. HD 2172,grown in 90% of the wheat area, has paved the wayfor self-sufficiency in food grains.

The remarkable speed with which the highyielding varieties were identified from the initialMexican material and later developed within thecountry was the result of the multi-location testingand inter-disciplinary research organized under theAll India Coordinated Wheat Research Project of theIndian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).The coordinated wheat project is an outstandingexercise in meaningful, international andinterdisciplinary cooperation. We salute B.P. Pal, whoinitiated both organized wheat breeding andcoordinated varietal testing programmes in thecountry. Breeding efforts alone would not haveborne fruit but for the outstanding support given byplant pathologists, agronomists, soil chemists andspecialists in other disciplines. In short, theparticipants in the wheat research programmefunctioned like members of a symphony orchestra.Such harmony and cooperation led to historicallypath breaking results. Advances in wheat productionalso serve as an illustration of the value of fusionbetween political will and scientific skill. But for thepolitical action taken by C. Subramaniam, scientificresults might have just remained in the laboratory.

Rice: Systematic breeding of crop varieties whichcan respond to higher levels of plant nutritionstarted in India in 1952 when at the instance of Dr.K. Ramiah, a programme for incorporating genes forfertilizer response from temperate japonica ricevarieties from Japan into indica strains was initiatedat the Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI),Cuttack. Major aim was to select from segregatingpopulations of indica x japonica crosses, lines whichshowed the ability to utilize effectively about 100 kgof N per hectare. With the advent in the early sixties

P U R S U I T A N D P R O M O T I O N O F S C I E N C E218

of the semi-dwarf, non-lodging, relatively photo-insensitive indica varieties based on the ÔDee-Gee-Woo-GenÕ dwarfing gene identified in China, interestin transferring genes for fertilizer response fromjaponica varieties waned. Semi-dwarf indica rices likeTaichung Native 1, IR8 and Jaya provided the initialmaterial for the High Yielding Varieties Programme.In later breeding experiments, tropical japonicasfrom Taiwan also proved useful as parents.

Introduction of ÔDee-Gee-Woo-GenÕ dwarfinggene from semi-dwarf, short duration, day neutral,fertilizer responsive var. Taichung Native 1 in ourtropical rice resulted in crossing the yield barrier asthe yield jumped from 3 tonnes/ha to 7 tonnes/ha.Now the country has a large number of high-yielding rice varieties suitable for cultivation underirrigated and rainfed conditions. India is the secondcountry in the world to commercialize hybrid rice

technology. Hybrid rice provides further yieldadvantage of 1.0-1.5 tonnes/ha. Wide cultivation ofhigh yielding varieties and hybrids have helped inincreasing rice production from about 40 milliontonnes to over 80 million tonnes during the lastthree decades.

Maize and Millets: Spectacular successes have alsobeen achieved in improving the yields andproduction of maize, sorghum, pearlmillet andecofriendly small millets Ð finger millet, foxtail millet,kodo millet, little millet, prosomillet and barnyardmillet. India is the first country to develop hybridsin pearlmillet (bajra) which resulted in an increase inproduction from 2.84 million tonnes in 1950 to nearly8.72 million tonnes in 1995. The newly developedhybrids are predominantly suitable for droughtprone areas of Rajasthan. The crop, however, suffersfrom a serious downy mildew disease. Goodprogress has been made in developing extra early

P U R S U I T A N D P R O M O T I O N O F S C I E N C E 219

Seed production in hybrid rice.

heterotic mildew resistant hybrids and compositesto mitigate the losses caused by this disease.

Sugarcane: India is the leader in sugarcane research.Remarkable improvement in yield, quality andecological adaptation has been achieved by crossingthe cultivated species with wild relatives andmaking intergeneric crosses with bamboo, sorghumand maize. This pioneering work was initiated bySir T.S. Venkataraman in the 1940Õs at the SugarcaneBreeding Institute, Coimbatore which was initiallyestablished as Sugarcane Breeding Station in 1912.The new sugarcane varieties improved theproductivity from 34 tonnes/ha to 63-100 tonnes/hamaking India the largest producer of sugar in the

world. Our current production of sugar is more than13.4 million tonnes. To overcome the problem ofÔseedÕ quality micropropagation technology hasbeen developed to produce nearly 78000 plantlets(in vitro) from a single explant in less than sixmonths. Our sugarcane varieties like CO 419, CO527 and CO 6806 are also very popular in Africanand South-East Asian countries.

Oilseeds and Grain Legumes: Groundnut, rapeseed-mustard, sesame, linseed and castor are our mainoilseed crops. In 1951 India was producing 5.16million tonnes of oilseeds, but the present yieldshave risen to 20 million tonnes. This achievement, aresult of research oriented ÔTechnology Mission onOilseedsÕ launched by the country in the mideighties, has made the country self sufficient inoilseeds. A similar technology mission has beenlaunched for improving the production of grainlegumes (pulses) to meet the dietary requirement ofthe largely vegetarian population of the country. Ourproduction of grain legumes has improved onlymarginally during the last fifty years.

Cotton and Jute: India has the distinction of beingthe first country to have developed and grownhybrid cotton commercially. These hybrids give thefinest-quality of cotton with spinning performanceof 120s counts, comparable with the best in the world.Supported by the high yielding varieties and hybridsand IPM practices the production of cotton in thecountry has grown from 2.75 million bales in thefifties to 12.18 million bales last year, from about 7.5million ha cotton area. The country has alsodeveloped eco-friendly coloured cottons throughhybridization and mutation breeding. The colouredcottons will reduce the hazards of using azo-dyes. Inaddition, India produces 8.6 million bales of jute fibre,a substantial increase from 1.6 million bales about 50years ago. Introduction of high yielding varieties andhybrids and improved agronomic practices aremainly responsible for the increased production. Amajor emphasis is on developing value added

P U R S U I T A N D P R O M O T I O N O F S C I E N C E220

Grain legumes constitute a major source of food in

India.

products from jute fibre like fineyarn, blended yarn and specialityfabrics.

HORTICULTURE

India enjoys an enviable positionin the horticultural map of theworld as almost all types of fruits,vegetables, spices and condimentscan be grown. India is the secondlargest producer of fruits (40 mil-lion tonnes) and also second largestproducer of vegetables (72 milliontonnes). India has also made aremarkable progress in flower pro-duction and is heading towards Hi-Tech practices. Although, horticul-ture has been practiced in Indiasince Vedic times, organized research on horticulturestarted about 40 years ago with the establishment ofa separate Division of Horticulture at the IARI, NewDelhi and of the Indian Institute of HorticulturalResearch (IIHR), Bangalore. Now the country has 19independent research institutions and 17 coordinat-ed programmes for research on horticultural crops.Development of high yielding varieties and hybridfruits and vegetables has contributed to a phenome-nal growth of 11.2% and 5.6% respectively during1991-96 period. India is the largest producer ofmango, banana, sapota and acid lime. In grapesIndia has recorded the highest productivity per unitarea in the world. Among the vegetables India occu-pies the first position in cauliflower and second posi-tion in onion and third in cabbage.

Mango: Mango, the king of fruits, is the mostimportant fruit crop of India. It is also a major centreof diversity in mango which is believed to haveoriginated in the Indo-Burma region. The first largeorchard, known as Lakhi Bagh, as it had one lakh (0.1million) plants, was planted by Akbar the Great inthe 16th Century. Since that time mango is widelycultivated. Nearly 1200 varieties of mango have been

identified which are being maintained and evaluatedin field gene banks at different locations. Thesecollections have provided important gene pools forregular bearing, crop duration, extended shelf-lifeand a wide range of pulp quality and flavours.Alternate bearing and mango malformation are twomajor problems in this crop. A singular achievementhas been the development of dwarf and regularbearing hybrids through extensive breeding workcarried out at IARI, New Delhi and IIHR, Bangalore.These hybrids can be planted in close spacing in highdensity orchards, accommodating 1600 plants/ha,which yield more than ten times per unit area thanthe conventional varieties.

Citrus: Citrus is the third largest group of fruit crops ofIndia with a production of 2.98 million tonnes from 0.37million ha. The major citrus fruits in India are mandarinorange, sweet orange and acid lime. More than 500accessions of citrus are being maintained in field genebanks at different locations. Evaluation of the available

P U R S U I T A N D P R O M O T I O N O F S C I E N C E 221

Left: India is a major centre of diversity in banana,

over 70 cultivars are grown here.

Right: Regular bearing mango hybrid Arka Neelkaran.

gene pool has helped in identifying promising rootstocks, sources of resistance to pests and pathogens andtolerance to salt and drought. Salt tolerant species havebeen shown to exclude chloride uptake. Hybrid fromRangpur lime x trifoliate orange is a promising rootstockfor mandarin and sweet orange imparting resistance toPhytophthora and nematodes.

Banana: India is the major centre of diversity inbanana, the fourth important source of food after rice,wheat and milk. Banana has been grown in India forover 4000 years. The country produces 10.4 milliontonnes of fruit from 0.39 million ha. Over 70 cultivarsof banana are grown in the country depending onregional preferences. Some of these are low yieldersbut fetch high prices on account of their quality.Efforts are being made to improve their yield as wellas quality. Highly promising hybrids have beendeveloped with improved bunch weight (14-16 kg)and high degree of resistance to Fusarium wilt.

Micropropagation of banana in vitro has helpedin establishing high density plantations supportedby drip irrigation giving higher economic returns.Viral diseases, particularly banana bunchy top virusare serious problems. Sensitive diagnostic techniquesbased on monoclonal antibodies and c-DNA probeshave been developed to index and provide healthyplanting material of uniform quality.

Potato: Potato was introduced to India about 400years ago. During the last fifty years, area underpotato has grown from 0.2 million ha to nearly 1.0million ha but production has shown a dramaticincrease from one million tonnes to 22 million tonnes.This has been made possible through theintroduction of innovative Ôseed-plotÕ technique forproducing disease-free seed, development of highyielding varieties for cultivation under different agro-ecologies and improved agronomic practices. Insteadof the conventional tuber, potato seed referred to astrue potato seed (TPS) has been used in Tripura. Insome parts of the country, notably Gujarat, potatoyields are about 65 tonnes/ha, which is 50 per cent

more than those obtained in the Netherlands.

Other Tuber Crops: Tuber crops are the mostefficient producers of carbohydrates per unit areaand time. Cultivation of high yielding varieties andimproved management practices have increasedcassava (tapioca) productivity from 10 tonnes/ha tomore than 30 tonnes/ha in early seventies in TamilNadu, leading to improved turnover of cassavabased cottage-scale starch and sago industry.

PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES

The Indian sub-continent is an important centre oforigin and diversity of agri-horticultural cropspecies and their wild relatives. Nearly 160 domesti-cated species, 350 species of their wild relatives andover 800 species of ethnobotanical interest are nativeof this region. The significance of diversity can bejudged from the fact that out of the 80,000 rice vari-eties 50 per cent are found in India. Collection, con-servation and utilization of plant genetic resourceswere initiated at the IARI, New Delhi in 1945 by thevisionary plant scientist Harbhajan Singh. Realizingthe importance of this initiative, the country estab-lished a National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources(NBPGR) in 1976. To conserve and utilize the valuablegermplasm, a gene bank has been developed atNBPGR for long term storage of more than one mil-lion accessions. At present the facility holds about145,000 accessions in seed repository, 800 accessions intissue culture repository and 1000 samples cryopre-served in liquid nitrogen. The NBPGR is alsoresponsible for the long-term conservation of glob-al base collections of several crops.

NATURAL RESOURCES AND AGROFORESTRY

Soil and water are the vital natural resources foroptimizing agricultural production. The country is,however, facing serious concerns of reduction in arableland due to urbanization, annual loss of nearly 5,334million tonnes of soil due to erosion, and depletingwater resources. For research on cropping systems,nutrient management, water management, soil man-

P U R S U I T A N D P R O M O T I O N O F S C I E N C E222

agement and agroforestry, the country has established13 national research institutions and 15 coordinatedprogrammes. These efforts have helped in delineating20 agro-ecological regions (AERs) and 60 sub-regionsbased on physiography, soil and period of cropgrowth. Cropping systems research has identified sus-tainable multiple cropping systems capable of produc-ing up to 10-12 tonnes/ha/year from irrigated areas.

Water is a key input. Technologies have beendeveloped for water harvesting recycling and eco-nomic usage. Integrated watershed managementmodels for different agro-ecological regions and agro-nomic practices have been developed to conserve soiland water. Scientific approaches have beendeveloped to stabilize sand-dunes by introducingtree species like Acacia tortilis (from Israel) which esta-blish successfully in sand-dune affected areas.

Agroforestry provides an ideal approach forthe optimum utilization of natural resources likewater, soil and sunlight. Agroforestry has been inpractice for a long time in India. Growing of tea,coffee, ginger, turmeric and cardamom in the shadetrees and intercropping with trees like coconut arecommon in the tropical regions. Through researchefforts indigenous and exotic species of plants havebeen identified for agri-horti-silvi-pastoral, silvipas-toral, agri-silvi-pastoral and agri-horticulture indifferent agroecological regions. Agri-silvi comb-ination of Acacia nilotica and wheat or chickpea hasbeen found suitable for improving the productivityof marginal and dry areas. Various multipurposetree species of Acacia, Albizia, Azadirachta, Butea,Casuarina, Dalbergia, Hardwickia and Tecomella havebeen recommended for agroforesstry in differentagro-climatic regions of the country and forachieving sustainable productivity from wastelands.

PLANT PROTECTION

Biotic stresses are a major constraint in achievingfull yield potential of crop plants. The losses dueto weeds, diseases and pests have been estimated tobe around 40% in the tropics and semitropics. If thepost-harvest losses (15-20%) are also added, the situ-

ation becomes even more alarming. For sustainableagriculture, in an environment-conscious world, thegrowth-reducing factors like pests, pathogens andweeds have to be managed through eco-friendlymeasures, supported by judicious use of chemicals tomaintain high economic returns without disturbing

P U R S U I T A N D P R O M O T I O N O F S C I E N C E 223

Top: Variability in maize in North-East India.

Above: Water harvesting in the Thar desert of

Rajasthan.

the ecological balance. Therefore, integrated pestmanagement (IPM) has been identified as one of thekey technologies to increase crop productivity, as it iseconomical, ecofriendly and suitable for Indianfarming systems where agricultural holdings are rel-atively small and the practice of intercropping ofdiverse crops is common. IPM practices involve needbased application of chemical pesticides, use ofbotanical pesticides like neem products, use of resis-tant varieties and release of biocontrol agents. Thesehave been developed for ecofriendly management ofpest and diseases of rice, cotton, sugarcane, maize,oilseeds, pulses, citrus, grapes and vegetables.

Use of resistant varieties has been very

successful in managing plant diseases. In the1950Õs and early 1960Õs rust diseases of wheat usedto result in 10% loss in yield. But now thesediseases cause negligible damage due todeployment of resistance genes for wheat rustmanagement. This has been achieved throughextensive collaborative research efforts foridentifying genes imparting resistance to differentraces of the rust pathogens and their deploymentin different wheat-growing areas depending onthe virulence of the prevalent races of the

pathogens. If the losses due to rust pathogenswere to continue, we would have been losingnearly seven million tonnes of wheat annually. Itis a continuing effort. Researches are in progressfor pyramiding genes like Lr 24, Lr 28 and Lr 19for leaf rust resistance in wheat through molecularmarker assisted selection as these genes arephenotypically indistinguishable. Resistancegenes have also been identified in other crops forresistance to fungal, bacterial and viral pathogens.

Recent biotechnological developments providepowerful and novel mechanisms for themanagement of biotic stresses. The introduction ofcrystal protein gene (cry gene) of Bacillusthuringiensis (Bt) into crop plants for developing pestresistant varieties is a major breakthrough. At theIARI, New Delhi a mutated gene encoding Bt-cry1Ac d-endotoxin has been found to be highlyeffective against cotton bollworm and rice yellowstem borer. Transgenic tobacco and other crop plantsexpressing trypsin inhibitor gene from cowpea havebeen shown to have resistance to coleopteran,lepidopteran and orthopteran pests. Over ex-pression of chitinase or glucanase, the fungal cellwall hydrolyzing enzymes, in transgenic Brassicajuncea has shown promise of developing resistanceagainst Alternaria which is a limiting factor in theproduction of this crop.

Biotechnological approaches are most usefulfor the management of viral diseases of plants, astransformation of plants with genes of viral originimparts resistance to infection by viruses. Coat-protein (CP) gene of plant viruses has been foundto be best for developing resistance againsthomologous viruses. Genomes of a large number ofviruses, particularly those belonging to Gemini- andpotyvirus groups, have been cloned to identifyspecific genes for use as transgene in developingresistant plants. Tobacco plants transformed withthe CP gene of potato virus Y (PVY), which causessevere diseases in a variety of crops includingtobacco, developed varying degree of resistance toinfection by PVY.

P U R S U I T A N D P R O M O T I O N O F S C I E N C E224

Cryptolaemus montrouzieri predates on mealybugs

which are a menace to fruit crops.

VETERINARY SCIENCES

India is very rich in livestock diversity. In terms ofnumbers we have over 200 million cattle, 76 mil-lion buffaloes, 46 million sheep, 110 million goats, 11million pigs, 1.9 millions equines, 1 million cameland 310 million poultry. Animal wealth has alsobeen an important component of Indian agriculturefrom times immemorial as important sources ofnutrition, draught power and organic recycling.There has been a quantum jump in milk productionfrom 17 million tonnes in 1950 to nearly 75 milliontonnes in 1999, making India the top milk producerin the world. Similar increase in the production ofeggs and broilers has been achieved.

Improvement of animals has been practiced inIndia from the days of Matsya Purana which dealswith the selection of efficient bulls. Since then,breeding and selection of animals for different agro-ecologies has resulted in vast diversity in ourlivestock and poultry. However, organized animalresearch started with the establishment of ImperialBacteriological Laboratory at Pune in 1889 whichshifted in 1893 to Mukteshwar in the KumaonHimalayas and later became the Indian VeterinaryResearch Institute (1947). We now have a networkof 18 national research institutions and 16coordinated programmes for conducting extensiveresearch on different species of domestic animals,animal products and animal health.

India has worldsÕ best breeds of dairybuffaloes, draught cattle, carpet wool sheep andgoats. We also have rare species of yak, mithun,pigmy hog and wild buffaloes. The country hasestablished a National Bureau of Animal GeneticResources with headquarters at Lucknow to workin collaboration with other institutions forevaluation, characterization, conservation,management and improvement of our rich animalgenetic resources. The Bureau is developingcytogenetic profiles of livestock and databases forbreed conservation and utilization. Chromosomeprofile has been determined for cattle (Bos indicus),buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), goat (Capra hircus), sheep

(Ovis aries), horse (Equus domesticus), donkey (Equusasinus), single humped camel (Camelus dromedarius),pig (Sus scrofa), yak (Bos grunniens) and mithun (Bosfrontalis).

Crossbreeding with exotic breeds has producednew improved genotypes. In cattle new genotypesKaran Swiss (Brown Swiss x Red Sindhi or Sahiwal)and Karan Fries (Friesian X Tharparkar) are givingan annual lactation of 3,385 and 3,820 litres respec-tively. Frieswal (Holstein X Sahiwal) yield even

P U R S U I T A N D P R O M O T I O N O F S C I E N C E 225

Top: Karan Swiss cow, a cross between Brown

Swiss and Red Sindhi/Sahiwal.

Above: The worldÕs first in vitro fertilized buffalo

calf.

better (4000 litres) at mature lactation. Thisprogramme has helped in improving milkproduction in the country. Similarly, improvedgenotypes have been developed for sheep, goats,rabbit and poultry. The Indian livestock germplasmresources have also been used for developing newbreeds in Australia, Europe, South-East Asia andSouth America.

Significant advances have been made incryopreservation of buffalo semen, in vitromaturation and in vitro fertilization of buffalo oocyteand embryo transfer technology (ETT). ThroughETT, a superior bovine female can be made toproduce 5 to 10 calves a year and up to 50 calves ormore in its life time. ETT is also successful in buffalo,sheep and goat.

Disease diagnosis, disease monitoring andsurveillance procedures, supported by improvedvaccination programme have helped in increasinganimal production. The country has producedvaccines to guard against the diseases like: anthrax,haemorrhagic septicaemia, blackquarter, fowlcholera, Ranikhet disease, swine fever, rabies, foot

and mouth disease, sheep pox, goat pox,fowl pox, clostridial diseases in sheep,theileriosis, canine distemper and equineinfluenza. The laboratories in Bhopal andBangalore have appropriate microbialcontainment facility for producing diagnosticreagents and vaccines against contagiousdiseases like foot and mouth disease. Thelaboratory in Bangalore also serves as referrallaboratory and conducts epidemiologicalstudies on rinderpest and rinder-pest likediseases, with the help of a network of 32laboratories established to monitor thesediseases.

Rinderpest was the most serious diseaseof ruminant animals in the country up to

1950 when an eradication programme was startedentirely by indigenous efforts using vaccinesdeveloped by the Indian Veterinary ResearchInstitute (IVRI). By 1960, mortality rate was reducedby 80-90%, which greatly helped in providing theadditional draught power required during theÔgreen revolutionÕ years. By 1995 the entire countrywas free of this dreadful disease and the freshvaccinations were stopped in 1997. The vaccinesdeveloped in India have also been used in othercountries in rinderpest eradication programme.

FISHERIES

Fish is a dynamic self-renewable natural resource. Itis the most economical source of animal protein andan important health food. Fisheries constitute a uniquesector offering animal protein to a wide cross-section ofsociety from a price ranging from Rs. 10/kg to as highas Rs.700/kg. High fecundity (up to 1 million eggs)and fast growth rate (growth coefficient often >1.0)have no parallels in other animal protein sources likethe livestock, including poultry. These advantageousbiological characteristics of fishes offer considerablescope for increasing production and achieving nutri-tional security to a large extent. With the availability of2.4% of global land area, India has to nourish and sus-tain 16% of the world population; hence its dependence

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An elite Karan Fries cow with its ten calves

produced by super ovulation and embryo transplant

technology.

on aquatic food production is obvious.From the vast and diverse aquatic resources of

India 0.8 million tonne fish were captured during1950s; even then, we exported about 20,000 tonnesof fish, mostly in dried form, and earned Rs. 25million. The country has established 8 nationalfisheries research institutions, each with specificmandates to cater to all areas of fisheries research.Thanks to these institutions and their researchcontributions, we produce 5.8 million tonnes of fishand export about 0.4 million tonnes of shrimps,mostly frozen and canned, and earn a net foreignexchange of Rs. 55 billion. Briefly, fish productionin our country has grown more than five times,fisheries contribution to the GDP of India alsoincreased 3 times, a growth arguably one of thehighest among the food production sectors.

The following land-mark scientificcontributions have helped in achieving thisremarkable enhancement in fish productivity. (i)The then Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute,Barrackpore published the first paper on the successin induced breeding of carp in 1957. Subsequently,technologies on induced breeding and larval rearingwere developed for a number of species of carps.These research developments paved the way for thecurrent annual freshwater carp production of >1million tonnes. (ii) The Central Marine Fisheries

Research Institute (CMFRI) developed the hatcherytechnology of penaeid shrimps during 1973-78 andcommercial scale production started in the lateeighties. In 1999-2000, the country has exportedfarmed shrimps worth $ >1 billion. CMFRI has alsodeveloped models for (a) stock assessment andpopulation dynamics of multispecies, multigear fishresources in tropical waters, (b) fishery forecasting,and (c) in 1980 the Central Institute of FisheriesTechnology (CIFT) and the Bay of BengalProgramme (FAO), Chennai, designed a highopening trawlnet with the help of gear experts inIndia. The design revolutionized the capturefisheries sector. In two decades, all the trawlnets(1,50,000 in number in 1998) in the country are ofhigh opening type. They are responsible for anannual fish harvest of >1.2 million tonnes. CIFT hasalso developed technologies for the production ofchitin and chitosan from prawn shell waste for wideranging applications in pharmaceuticals, textile,cosmetic and paint industry. Absorbent surgicalsutures have been developed from gut collagen offish by cross and polymer coating for use inmicrosurgery. These developments have paved theway for, what is hailed as Blue revolution or

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BullÕs Eye fish, a deep water resource with a vast

potential.

Aquaplosion in India. India has an enormousdiversity of fish with 2,200 indigenous species. ANational Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources has beenestablished to develop a database on fish resources,preserve and maintain pure line fish stocks andbreed fast growing hardy and high yielding fishvarieties. These efforts will help in sustaining theblue revolution.

The Central Institute for FreshwaterAquaculture has cultured pearls infreshwater mussel and CMFRI hasstandardized pearl culture in Pinctadafucata, the most abundant pearl oyster inIndia. Technology has been developed toculture pearls in desired images andshapes.

Despite these the achievements inimproving fishery production, the percapita fish availability is less (8 kg) thanthe world average (12 kg) and thequantity (11 kg) recommended by WHO.During late 1980s, aquafarming wasundertaken by progressive fish-farmersin the east coast. By 1993, this kind ofaquaculture activity led to farming ofshrimp to the extent of 0.14 million haand production of 0.83 million tonnes.

We have thus used less than 10% of available areathat can be brought under aquaculture. Of the 297species known to be suitable for aquaculture, Indianfarmers have mastered the technology for massproduction of only 15 species so far. For another 20and odd species, mass culture techniques are beingdeveloped by the countryÕs research institutions.

CHALLENGES AHEAD

The transition from a "ship to mouth" existence toone of food self-sufficiency at the prevailing levelof purchasing power achieved during the last 50years is perhaps one of the greatest human accom-plishments since the dawn of agriculture 10,000 yearsago. Such a transition was achieved through pioneer-ing agricultural research and a multipronged strategyconsisting of (a) increased food production, (b) build-ing grain reserves, (c) operating an extensive publicdistribution system, (d) protective social securitymeasures like food for work, nutritious noon mealand employment guarantee, and (e) land reforms andasset creation measures. However, we continue toforce the challenge of endemic hunger as over 200million children, women and men are under nour-

P U R S U I T A N D P R O M O T I O N O F S C I E N C E228

Open water fishery resources in India andtheir modes of fishery management

Resource Resource size Management mode

Marine jurisdiction (mKm2) 2 -

Coastline (km) 8,219 -

Brackishwater ( m ha) 2 Aquaculture

Rivers (km) 29,000 Capture fisheries

Mangroves (ha) 356,000 Subsistence

Estuaries (ha) 300,000 Capture fisheries

Estuarine wetlands (bheries)(ha) 39,600 Aquaculture

Backwaters/lagoons (ha) 190,500 Capture fisheries

Large & medium reservoirs (ha) 1,667,809 Enhancement (stock & species)

Small reservoirs (ha) 1,485,557 Culture-based fisheries

Floodplain wetlands (ha) 202,213 Culture-based fisheries

Upland lakes (ha) 720,000

ished largely due to inadequate purchasing powerarising from inadequate opportunities for skilledemployment. The time is now ripe to take the finalsteps essential for the total elimination of hunger.The opportunity for a productive and healthy life forevery individual would depend on the success of ourstrategies for hunger elimination.

The population of India is growing at the rateof 1.8 percent per year. If this trend continues, ourpopulation will double itself in less than 40 years.Only Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Goa and Mizoram haveso far achieved a demographic transition to lowbirth and death rates. Andhra Pradesh is now onthe verge of achieving the goal of populationstabilisation. Besides population increase,improved purchasing power among the poor willenhance the demand for food, since under-nutrition and poverty go together. There is still awidespread mismatch between production andpost-harvest technologies. In perishablecommodities such as fruits, vegetables, flowers,meat and other animal products, this mismatch isoften severe, affecting the interests of bothproducers and consumers.

Out of every three ha of cultivated land in ourcountry, two ha are under rainfed agriculture. There-fore, top priority should be given to improving theproductivity and stability of rainfed agriculture.

LOOKING AHEAD

Amajor accomplishment of Independent India isthe development of a dynamic national agricul-tural research, education and extension system. Wehave a well established network of State Agriculturaland Animal Sciences Universities and nationalresearch institutions and All-India CoordinatedResearch Projects supported by the Indian Council ofAgricultural Research. Therefore, we have opportu-nities to produce food and other agricultural com-modities, particularly fruits and vegetables, not onlyfor our country but also for international markets.

The gap between potential and actual yields ishigh in a majority of farming systems. In most of

the crops, the present average yield is just one thirdof the achievable yield. Therefore, a massive effort isrequired to launch a new revolution in farming,through cost saving and efficient technologies bothfor production and post-harvest management. Thiswould require adoption of the following strategies● Defending the gains already made by adopting

integrated natural resource management so thatpresent production does not erode futureprospects. This is particularly required for thetraditional Ôgreen revolutionÕ areas.

● Extending the gains to areas which have beenbypassed by the Ôgreen revolutionÕ technologies.

● Making new gains: The need for making newgains is urgent. This can be achieved by utilizingthe available agro-climatic/soil maps,watershed/ wasteland atlasses, GIS mappingand remote sensing capabilities for developingimproved and integrated crop-livestock-fishfarming system, and developing infrastructurefor value addition to farm products at the villagelevel. These changes will provide opportunitiesfor off-farm employment and income generation.

● Institutional and infrastructural support isessential for higher agricultural production.There is an urgent need for providing efficientirrigation, power supply, rural roads, coldstorages, godowns and food processing unitssupported by assured and remunerativemarketing as developed by the successful dairyand marketing cooperatives.

● Increasing rural income through (a) recognitionand reward to the past and ongoingcontributions of farm families in improving,selecting and conserving crop genetic resourcesas envisaged in the Protection of Plant Varietiesand FarmersÕ Rights Bill, 2001, and (b) increasedagricultural exports. To increase agriculturalexports we will need greater investment in postharvest technology and infrastructure formeeting the requirements of sanitary andphytosanitary measures, ISO 9000, 14000 andCodex Alimentarius standards.

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For the success of the above strategies thecountry will require restructuring and retooling ofextension services for an era of precision farming byestablishing Rural Knowledge Centres and retrainingof existing extension workers as Rural Knowledge

Workers. The legacy of the past 50 years gives usconfidence that our farm women and men willovercome difficulties and capitalize on opportunitiesand help the country to realise Gandhiji's vision of ahunger free India in the early part of this century.

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The pictures, and the data for graphs and tables used in this chapter have been provided by ICAR.