State to be made leading centre for biotech. R&D

By Our Science Correspondent

BANGALORE, MARCH 7. The State Government is determined to make Karnataka a leading centre for biotechnology research and development, the Agriculture Minister, Mr. T.B. Jayachandra, has said.

Posing the question, ``How long can IT (information technology) survive?'', the Minister argued that Karnataka, which was acknowledged as a force in the field of IT, needed to expand its horizons to include BT (biotechnology) as well in order to retain its high-technology status. The Government had already announced its biotechnology policy and was willing to do everything in its power to encourage biotechnology, he declared while inaugurating a seminar on biotechnology organised by the Monsanto Research Centre in Bangalore.

Since it could reduce the cost of cultivation, biotechnology was required to make agriculture competitive. Karnataka, with its 10 agro-climatic zones and rich biodiversity, offered much opportunity for biotechnology research, he pointed out.

Biotechnology would make it possible to get better yields from less land, using less inputs, at lower cost and with less environmental degradation, observed Dr. T.M. Manjunath, head of the Monsanto Research Centre in Bangalore which is celebrating its third anniversary. India had 170 million hectares of arable land and using biotechnology it could emerge as a superpower in agriculture, he added.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : Major power blackout in State
Next     : Vajpayee urged to defend interests of farmers