Even though minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh has said that there is no 'over-riding urgency' to permit the commercial cultivation of Bt Brinjal, everybody agrees that there's a huge question mark over India's capacity to provide food security for its 1.2 billion citizens. And as government, technocrats and big corporations slug it out on the issue of genetically modified food, some innovative startups are working behind the scenes towards achieving the goal of sustainably bolstering food production efficiencies.

One such example is Benares-based Jaiprakash Singh, 43, a class nine pass-out and serial innovator. The enterprising farmer has developed over 25 high-yielding seeds of crops such as wheat, mustard , paddy and pigeon pea over the last decade. He sells these seeds to farmers in Maharashtra, Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. What makes Singh stand out, though, is that he does not scientifically modify the seeds in any way whatsoever. "High-yielding seeds are already available naturally," he says, "The real focus should be on selection of a variety which is best suited to local conditions." Singh experiments with different varieties of seeds, which he sows in his field to see which variety works best. Once the desired results are achieved, he sells them........Click for more

Source Web Page: Economic Times