Biotech Updates

TAAS Foundation Day Lecture Focuses on Ensuring Food Security

January 16, 2013

The Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS) held its Foundation Day Lecture on January 14, 2013 at New Delhi, India. The lecture focused on "Ensuring Food and Nutrition Security in Asia: The Role of Agricultural Innovation" which was delivered by Shenggen Fan, director of the International Food and Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Fan discussed that R&D in agriculture leads to the development of biotic and abiotic stress resistant, and high-yielding crop varieties which promote sustainable intensification of crops and provide Asian farmers with encouraging benefits.

"However, further research is required to determine the potential benefits and risks of these new technologies. For those that are proven to work for both consumers and producers, regulatory uncertainties and excessive restrictions surrounding biotech crops must be removed in order to widen the technology pipeline and provide both private and public sectors the confidence to invest," Fan added.

Read more information at http://www.icar.org.in/node/5610 and http://www.fnbnews.com/article/detnews.asp?articleid=33116§ionid=1.