Investment in R&D can help tackle global food crisis: ICRISAT

NEW DELHI: Every dollar invested in farm R&D generates food worth 9 dollars in the developing world, research body ICRISAT Director General William Dar said today, putting wager on big investment in technology in the fight against global food crisis.

"Less than 1 per cent of total public spendings goes to agricultural research and development in developing countries. The situation calls for urgent improvement," the chief of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) said at a function here.

Dar called for a three-pronged approach to address the global crisis -- "food for people, environment for people and policy for people".

He said ICRISAT has developed a hybrid variety of pigeon pea, which is being commercialised, adding that the institute has so far developed 609 varieties of seed parentline in just 35 years of existence.

The ICRISAT Director General, however, calls for a cautious approach in the diversion of huge agricultural land for producing bio-fuels, saying the trade-off between food and fuel should be examined properly.

"We should be careful in adopting a path which should ensure both food and energy security," he said, adding that corn land in the developing world should not be diverted for bio-fuels as it forms a major part in the diet system of its people.