Transcript India`s Xi Five Year Plan In The Context Of Globlization

INDIA’S XI FIVE YEAR PLAN IN THE CONTEXT OF
GLOBLIZATION: A NOTE ON SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY POLICY
Agricultural biotechnology
• What drives policy?
• Agriculture in India is no longer a way of life. It
is intimately linked to industrial interests, both
national and multinational and political
interests
• All stakeholders are not equal. Power is
distributed unequally among the stakeholders.
DBT’s Approach to the XI Plan
• Approach: ‘should be to create such tools and
technologies that address the problems of the
largest section of the society, provide products
and services at affordable prices and make
India globally competitive in the emerging bioeconomy
• Developing strong biotechnology industry and
technology diffusion capacity is critical to
fulfill this vision
Vision
• The success of this vision over the next decade will be
reflected through: 1) greater enrollment of student in life
sciences;
• 2) increase in the number of persons with higher levels of
education and skill sin life sciences and bitoechnology;3)
greater contribution of research to economic and social
development; 4) increased contribution of university system
to basic life sciences as well as translational biotechnollgy
research
vision
• 5) strong international partnerships linked to
national gals; 6) increased number of new
companies and increase in SMEs engaged in
R&D ad finally 7) the Indian biotech industry
generating revenue to the tune of US $10
billion annually and creating substantially
more jobs by 2010.
• The main components of innovation system
would be availability of required numbers of
world class scientists and professionals
relevant to R & D ; a well trained, skilled work
force for industry ; adequate infrastructure
and providing fiscal, regulatory and legal
framework that encourages risk taking by
investors. Following policy interventions and
schemes has been suggested:
• Establishment of Technology Management- National and local Centers : A
technology management network that is locally linked to stronger central
resources is an essential and currently, the missing link.
• World class regulatory mechanism: A scientific, rigorous, efficient,
predictable and consistent regulatory regime for biosafety evaluation and
release of protocols is essential. A National Biotechnology Regulatory
Authority is proposed to be created to provide effective single window
clearance mechanism for all Biotechnology products.
• Adequate support should be ensured for “public good” research designed
to reach the unreached in terms of technology empowerment. Both “public
good” and “for profit” research should become mutually re-enforcing.
Public institutions and industry have an important role in the process.
Mission mode programmes
• Food and nutrition security
• Molecular breeding of agricultural crops.
Prioritization of sect oral R & D
Agriculture and Food Biotechnology: disease and
pest resistant, drought and salinity tolerant
seeds and plants; nutrition enhancement.
Risk and bio-safety and regulation
What is risk?
Potential harm to life or property
Dimensions:
a) timeframe
b) judgment over acceptable levels of risk
Regulation
• Regulatory framework: There are indications
that the framework also has been imported
• Does not seem to recognize the organization
of agriculture in India
• Majority of small and marginal farmers with
different levels of economic, cultural and
information endowments;
Social amplification of risk
• Risk should not be understood merely in
technical terms. Risk get socially amplified
• Risk associated with gene flow; gene flow
from GM crops to non-GM crops;
• Loss of market for non-GM produce;
• Litigation with GM seed companies
Implications for integrated farming
• In India integrated crops in pattern example:
all pulses in rain-fed areas grown together;
• Cattle is part of the farming operations:
Drought animals and mulch cattle.
• In the US agricultural farm is physically and
psychologically separate from human
habitation and cattle. This is not the case in
India
DBT proposals on bio-control agents
• Bio-pesticide, bio-fertilizers etc.,
• The IX Plan approach paper shows that they
are subservient to the dominant model that
involves the use of molecular biology tools
and techniques
Conclusion
• Suggests increasing emphasis on the
industrialization of agriculture by employing
molecular biology tools;
• The logic of industrialization is to bring about
homogeneity
• Agriculture in India is practiced in different
climatic zones, diversity of soils and terrains
and different crops.
International cooperation and collaboration
• The DBT approach paper’s vision is to increase
international collaboration
• Example: Indo–US Knowledge Initiative
• As part of the initiative there will be
collaborative research in Indian water
buffaloes (have genes responsible for low fat
content in milk) and goats ( have genes that
provide resistance against some diseases.
Conclusion
• Public – Private Partnership (PPP)
• What are the norms that govern the
partnership?
• Investment;
• Credit sharing; research, patents, and profits
• We do not have any mechanism to translate
research carried out in public institutions into
products
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