Encourage other high-yielding crop tech instead of GM, says Abhijit Sen

NEW DELHI: Planning Commission member Abhijit Sen underlined the need to push other high-yielding crop technologies which are widely accepted, instead of genetically modified ( GM) food crops.

"There are many technologies that can be pushed for increasing farm output, instead of GM crops. We can do traditional breeding, but do it much faster with the help of marker-assisted breeding," Sen said on the sidelines of the J C Bose Memorial Lecture organised by Agriculture Ministry.

The marker-assisted breeding is happening all over the world including India, he said, adding that there is a need to encourage such research development which are not opposed.

Marker assisted selection (MAS) is indirect selection process where a trait of interest is selected, not based on the trait itself, but on a marker linked to it.

At present, the government has allowed GM cotton for commercial production but it has clamped a moratorium on GM brinjal due to opposition from various sections.

Sen said that GM cotton has been relatively successful in India but in the case of GM food crops like brinjal, "there is opposition."