Indian Minister Calls for Biotechnology in Potato Improvement

Mr. Sharad Pawar, Indian Minister of Agriculture, said that biotechnology can play a key role in the improvement of potato while inaugurating the Global Potato Conference (GPC) on 9-12 Dec 2008 at New Delhi. The conference was organized by the Indian Potato Association (IPA) along with Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI), and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The conference complemented FAO’s efforts which had earlier identified potato crop as “Food of the Future” and also declared 2008 as the “International Year of the Potato”. Mr. Pawar added that India is a partner in the multinational “Potato Genome Sequencing Consortium” to understand and utilize the genome based knowledge in potato improvement. He also said that the Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI) has already developed promising potato transgenics for late blight resistance and better nutritional qualities. Transgenics for better processing qualities, and viral and bacterial wilt resistance are also in progress. The rules for regulation of GM crops in India are well in place and ICAR has also prepared guidelines for registration and commercialization of plant varieties, he said.

Dr. Pamela K. Anderson, Director General of International Potato Center, highlighted that potato-based systems represent an increasingly important opportunity for the poor in terms of food and nutritional security. She reckons the losses caused by different diseases which reduce potential yield by 6 tons per hectare due to late blight, 5.1 tons due to non-availability of clean seeds, 2.8 tons due to viruses and 0.6 tons due to bacterial wilt; totaling to 14.5 tons per hectare, equivalent to the national average potato yield. Dr. Mangla Rai, Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research stressed on the integration of biotechnology tools with potato improvement activities. He emphasized the need to undertake focused research on development of transgenic potato with improved resistance to diseases and quality improvement.

The four day conference aims to share ideas on crop management and seed production using latest technologies and come out with recommendations for making potato cultivation eco-friendly, productive and profitable in India and abroad. For additional details about the Global Potato Conference (GPC) visit  http://www.gpc2008.in/

For more information about biotech development in India contact b.choudhary@cgiar.org or k.gaur@cgiar.org