It was a bright sunny day of October heat in 2009 at a small town called Pachora, in the state of Maharashtra India, where I was President-Business Head of a reputed seed company Nirmal Seeds. I was engrossed in discussion with the Managing Director and founder of the company about expansion of business through international trade and investments. During the discussions, I realized that Science and technology hold the key to develop high output agriculture. The challenge is to use new technologies creatively for the benefit of farmers and to make evidence-based decisions on deployment of these technologies. India is the best example of using the technology of hybrids during Green Revolution and achieving a food surplus in 1990 from food scarcity in 1965. Now, India is witnessing second green/gene revolution by using GM (Genetically modified) technologies. Indicators of the extraordinary impact of BT cotton in improving yields, saving pesticides cost, and as a result strong acceptance of bio-technology in cotton by Indian farmers was presented in the Second Edition Status Report of BT Cotton in India by APCoAB (Asia Pacific Consortium on Agriculture Biotechnology), published in 2009. BT Cotton was approved through a rigorous governmental regulatory process.
Seed is a fundamental yield enhancing input for sustained growth in farm production. It has been playing a vital role in the advancement of Indian agriculture since last four decades. In the world’s worst recorded food disaster that happened in 1943 in Eastern India known as Bengal famine, an estimated 4 million people died. At that time, the seed sector was not well developed. At the time of independence in 1947, the Indian population was around 350 million with a total grain output of just 51 million tons and today the population is more than 1.2 Billion with food production of more than 250 Million tonnes. Before 1960, farmers were using their own seed for multiplication and the area under certified seed production was less than 500 ha in 1962-1963. So, it was very crucial to mitigate the food demand and supply of the increasing population. I was tempted to relate the present African agriculture status with Indian agriculture during decade of 1960-1970.
The emergence of India’s generic pharmaceuticals industry is seen as a success of international development and cooperation, making affordable drugs available to populations not only in India but across the developing world, including in Africa. Could India’s thriving seed sector play a similar role in delivering affordable, high-quality seeds to African farmers? India shares some of the diverse agro-ecologies and crops found in Africa. Is it plausible that technologies and methods used by Indian farmers might also be relevant to African situations? India’s development story as an emerging economy with millions of its own small-scale cultivators, might indeed provide relevant knowledge, expertise and investments to help develop the seed sector in Africa – and thereby to support economic development, food security and poverty alleviation in that continent.
The failed momentum of the green revolution deprives some places of the world, especially Africa, from maximizing their agriculture outputs. Africa after all has almost twice as much arable land as the European union, and much of that land could be productive if new technologies are creatively used by avoiding the problems faced during implementation of such techniques in other parts of world, specifically India. This thought ignited an idea in my mind to replicate the Indian green revolution model in African countries through novel seeds system approach. It created the path for me to leave foot prints on African soil.