Biotech. park: UAS campus ideal

By S.K. Ramoo

BANGALORE, OCT. 5. Following the favourable decision of the Board of Regents to allot 100 acres of land on the campus of the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) here, for establishing a biotechnology park, the Government should revise its decision to locate the proposed project outside the UAS campus, ignoring the ``disinformation campaign'' launched by some vested interests and misinformed leaders of the Opposition.

Without meaningful linkages and active coordination with the UAS, a biotechnology park located outside the campus may possibly end up as an exclusive commercial proposition, dominated by the industry, including MNCs motivated by profits. The larger social objective of helping farmers reap the benefits of the application of biotechnology research will be lost. Ms. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson of the Vision Group on Biotechnology, hit the nail on the head when she said recently that the project should be shelved if it had to be implemented outside the UAS campus, which would deprive it of a productive association with the university.

The emerging research in the field of biotechnology has a large bearing on agricultural sciences, and both the university and Government will have control over it if the proposed biotechnology park is located on the UAS campus. It will also facilitate technology transfer.

Biotechnology research is essential as conventional research for increasing crop yields is marked by limitations. If the park is located on the UAS campus, both research and its applications can be directed to secure the maximum social good for a large section of farmers who toil on dry land. Through biotechnology research, it is possible to evolve both plants and animals which can withstand harsh conditions.

According to Prof. R. Dwarkinath, former UAS Vice-Chancellor and Chairman of the Karnataka Agriculture Commission, biotechnology will help evolve drought-resistant and disease-resistant crop strains suitable for dry-land farming. He has said that the long- term interests of the university and farmers will suffer if the park is located outside the UAS campus. According to him, the UAS, due to its limited resources and lack of personnel trained in biotechnology, cannot, on its own, conduct extensive research in various areas of biotechnology.

Onus on Vision Group: Now it is for the Vision Group on Biotechnology to prepare a draft MoU without delay by defining the objectives of the proposed biotechnology park and its academic association with the UAS. It should also initiate measures for inducting a few faculty members of the UAS as agreed upon at a meeting held recently in the chamber of the Minister of State for Information Technology, Prof. B.K. Chandrashekar. An MoU between the Vision Group on Biotechnology and the UAS will silence the detractors, including the political opponents of the project.

However, the Vision Group cannot assume executive powers by encroaching on the Government's privileges and taking advantage of its proximity to the Chief Minister, Mr. S.M. Krishna. It is only an advisory group, and its recommendations are not policy guidelines. Both the UAS and the Government should have a greater say on which institutions should be accommodated in the proposed biotechnology park.

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