Module 2 - India: Focus on Biotechnology

Despite it self-sufficiency in food grain production, India faces continuing challenges in sustaining agricultural growth rates. Developments following the green revolution have brought into sharp focus concerns relating to productivity, sustainability, and environmental protection. Advances in biotechnology offer great scope for improvements in crops, livestock, and aquaculture. For example, the development of transgenic crops with increased yields and improved nutritional qualities, and the development of diagnostic kits for plant and animal diseases, are areas with considerable potential.

Building domestic capacity and advancing research in biotechnology are consequently critical to sustaining agricultural growth, and the use of research providers that are not part of the national agricultural research system is considered essential for improving the outcomes of these activities. Links to international researchers are also necessary, given the rapid pace of international biotechnology research.

Project Objectives and Description

The overall objectives of the National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP) were to: improve the efficiency of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) organization and management systems; enhance the performance and effectiveness of priority research programs and of scientists in responding to the technological needs of farmers; and develop models that improve the effectiveness and financial sustainability of technology dissemination with greater accountability to, and participation by, farming communities. The project sought to change the research agenda from being commodity- and budget-driven to one that was disciplinary- and demand-driven. The process used for developing scientific capacity included:

• Establishing teams of excellence.
  
• Training scientists.
  
• Funding research through competitive grants that were open to public, private, and community organizations.

Teams or centers of excellence, consisting of a prominent individual scientist or group of scientists within existing institutions, are given administrative and financial autonomy to facilitate contracting and collaboration with a range of partners. This approach was designed to draw in and disseminate new ideas and to pilot new forms of decentralized management of research units/activities. Because of rapid developments in science, strengthening international linkages is important to improve the quality of science and the capabilities of scientists. Funds allocated under this subcomponent promote links with institutions having complementary interests/expertise.