Improving Agricultural Output and Farmer Profitability with Progressive Regulatory Framework for Inputs

Accounting for 7.39 per cent of the global agricultural output, India is the second largest agricultural producer in the world. There is a slowdown in the Indian agriculture sector owing to unpredictable monsoons, yield stagnation and low prices for produce among other factors. The Government aims at doubling farmers’ income by 2022. The initiative will go a long way in addressing the agrarian crisis, but it must be complemented by an enabling policy environment for crop sciences.

Growth in our agricultural productivity and food security are inextricably tied with research and new product development in crop sciences. Insects, weeds, and diseases reduce crop production by approximately 15-25 per cent. Coupled with floods, droughts and changing weather patterns, this is a significant challenge facing Indian farmers. Fortunately, seed technology and crop protection can provide sustainable solutions and play a critical role in enhancing agricultural growth, helping farmers increase their income and ensuring national food security. However, such advanced crop science solutions need a progressive and expeditious regulatory framework to help them to enter the market.

Across the world, development and commercialization of a new GM seed or a new crop protection product can take up to a decade. In India, this process is extended further by a slow regulatory process. If there is an urgent need for a product to tackle a new pest, under the current regulatory process, by the time the product gets final approval and is made available in the market, the situation on the ground may have changed drastically. The problem for which the product was developed, may have evolved into something more complex requiring an enhanced or even a new solution altogether because we deal with a biological situation involving living organisms like plants, insects, and micro-organisms.

The regulatory framework deals rightly with the development, production, storage, sale, transport, and use of products to ensure safety and eliminate risk to humans, animals, and the environment. However, regulation should be science-based, predictable and time-bound. It is s imperative to identify and eliminate systemic bottlenecks leading to delayed approvals. Both under regulation and over-regulation must be avoided. Regulatory support is essential for the progress of the crop science industry.

In both, biotechnology and crop protection products, accelerating the transfer of technologies that are already tested and being used elsewhere is important. Regulatory support is needed especially for products that bring greater resource efficiency and safety into our agriculture thereby benefiting our farmers. Speedy technology transfer and manufacturing such products in India will help our Make in India initiative and give impetus to developing indigenous production capabilities thereby reducing the cost of products and the benefits being distributed to the farmers readily.

For example, the introduction of a new formulation or minor changes in formulations of crop protection products must be subjected to a simpler, fast-tracked regulatory format. Grouping of crops and approving products for each group of crops is another internationally recognized method of making the regulatory process robust but smooth.

In case of biotechnology and seeds, the regulatory process has slowed down to snail’s pace since 2010. No new technologies have been approved since 2005. GM Mustard and GM Brinjal were approved by the regulator GEAC but there has been no political decision taken to approve their commercialization. This uncertainty has made companies roll back research and new product development. This will make our farmers uncompetitive in International markets in the long run. This must be set right immediately, and predictability has to be brought into this process.