Overview

This book is the first of its kind in examining the role of biotechnology for reviving Indian agriculture and accelerating farmers’ incomes. It examines the empirical evidence in various agro-ecologies on already commercialised technologies, and also technologies on shelf like Bt brinjal, and herbicide tolerant maize and cotton. The political economy behind the public policies for biotechnologies, reasons for continuing controversies, and impacts of labelling policies and seed-pricing controls are examined in greater detail. In the past few years, discussion on genetically engineered crops has been particularly contentious, in the backdrop of concerns on food security and dominance of multinationals. However, dispassionate analysis of these technologies for their usefulness in Indian context has been missing. This book addresses this gap in extant literature and contains chapters by several renowned scholars from India and abroad, and can be a useful guide to students, civil society, policy makers, and researchers working on Indian agriculture.

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9789332704459

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Reviews

This book, which addresses various aspects of the technology, will prove very useful to anyone wishing to educate themselves further about GM when they are considering the potential benefits and risks of the technology.'- Sir V. Ramakrishnan, Nobel Laureate, Cambridge, UK. 'Tardy growth in productivity and declining farm income has been the Achilles' heel for the planners. Biotechnology holds a promise to come out of the arduous lane. Controversies are galore and answers are only minuscule, a foggy zone that vied for a clear vision. This volume fills that void and brings together essays by top class academicians of international repute covering many facets of bio-technology, heralding second green revolution. The essays cover incisive analytical perspectives on the facets and clarify the contentious issues. This is a must read volume.'- Prof. R.S. Deshpande, Director, Bengaluru Dr. B.R. Ambedkar School of Economics, Bengaluru. 'Interesting combative scholarly perspectives on a vexed socio-economic issue.'- Prof. Y.K. Alagh, Professor Emeritus and Vice Chairman, Sardar Patel Institute of Economic and Social Research, Ahmedabad and Chancellor, Central University of Gujarat. 'Evidence based research is important for a rational debate on biotechnology which is supposed to improve farmer's incomes including the small holders and provide better access of food to the poor. In this context, I compliment the authors for an excellent collection of articles which is a must read for students, researchers and policy makers.'- Prof. S. Mahendra Dev, Director and Vice Chancellor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai.

Author Information

N. Chandrasekhara Rao is currently Professor of Economics at the Institute of Economic Growth (IEG), New Delhi. Earlier, he was Faculty at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), Hyderabad. He was Fulbright Visiting Fellow in Cornell University, Ithaca, USA, during 2010-11. His research interests include: strategy of agricultural development, value chains, technological change and innovations, labour market and poverty reduction. Earlier he published: Biotechnology in Indian Agriculture: Potential, Performance and Concerns (Academic Foundation, New Delhi). His latest book was: Organised Retailing and Agri-Business: Implications of New Supply Chains on the Indian Farm Economy (Springer India, New Delhi). Carl E. Pray is a Distinguished Professor in the Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics Department, the School for Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. The focus of his research is agricultural science and technology policy in China, South Asia, Africa and Latin America. Dr Pray is the President of the International Consortium for Applied Bioeconomy Research (ICABR). The results of his research have been published in 80 journal articles including Science, Nature, the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Research Policy and in 45 book chapters. Ronald Herring has taught political economy and political ecology at Cornell University since 1991 as Professor of Government and International Professor of Agriculture and Rural Development. Ron has been faculty advisor to Asha Cornell and worked on production and teaching of the MOOC Science and Politics of the GMO (EdX/CornellX 2016, 2017). He has been editor of Comparative Political Studies, and remains on its editorial board, among others. Among his writings are several books including: Transgenics and the Poor (Routledge 2007; 2008), awarded The Dudley Seers Memorial Prize (London 2008), and The Oxford Handbook of Food, Politics and Society (2015).

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