Emerging seed technologies for oil seeds for increased yields and contribution to farmers income

By Ravinder Balain, President – South Asia at Corteva Agriscience

The agriculture sector plays an integral role in the Indian economy. With close to 70 percent of rural households continuing to depend heavily on agriculture for their livelihood, of which 82 per cent are small and marginal farmers, it continues to be the largest source of income in India.

But the contribution to GDP from agriculture is barely around 18%, this means the Indian agriculture system must work towards boosting its profitability and productivity to increase its contribution while working to meet the food demands of an ever-burgeoning population.

India presently houses 17.8% of the world population. The growing population will increase the pressure on land usage and agricultural land might be diverted to other necessary areas such as housing, infra projects, healthcare, urbanization, etc. To tackle this challenge, we must work smarter on the existing land. This also puts direct and abnormally high pressure on the agricultural sector for bringing in new, emerging technologies to improve production. It calls for an urgent transformation of the food and agriculture system in the country so that we can continue to feed nutritious food to our people and export to the world.

Farmers everywhere are continuing to grapple with stress on how to maximize crop production, reduce water and other resource consumption. Implementation of new seed technologies is one such way to make agriculture more competitive and acceptance of such newer technologies is critical at this time, as it will help improve the livelihoods of farmers and contribute to the overall growth of Indian agriculture.

Systemic issues limit progress in agriculture development

Despite its immense importance, the agriculture sector in India is limited by issues such as low productivity, irregular land holding patterns, lack of investments in research and development, and limited awareness of good agricultural practices.

Indian agriculture is also largely dependent on monsoons for crop cultivation. Irregular rain patterns, water scarcity and lack of proper infrastructure to harness water resources are adding to the woes of farmers. Insufficient investments in the domain have also resulted in minimal technological advancements. To support sustainable and profitable agriculture growth in India, these problems need to be addressed from a multi-stakeholder approach.

India needs to transition to newer seed technologies and modern breeding techniques to meet self-reliance aspirations

The Indian government is committed to reducing the import burdens as part of the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ mission. This can be achieved faster with high yielding hybrid seeds and better agronomic practices. Hybrid seeds not only grow much faster but are stronger and come with heightened efficiency, when compared with conventional seeds which are of lower quality, produce inconsistent yields and provide nutritionally deficient output. Among the key crops in India, oilseeds have the highest scope to create a significant value. Higher output in oilseed crops can help improve India’s agricultural productivity and farmers’ income. As of 2021, India had nearly 29 million hectares of land area for the cultivation of oilseeds. Despite this, India remains the largest importer of edible oil in the world. Vegetable oil is the third biggest import item after crude oil and gold in the country. The government is extensively promoting the cultivation of oilseeds to farmers and is also providing incentives to ensure this switch.

The Indian oilseeds sector holds tremendous promise. Investments in new seed technologies, such as high yielding hybrid seeds like mustard and different seed applied technology, will help in unlocking this potential.

There’s a need for new age technologies, both from the seed and assistance perspective, for the seed to grow properly. Good quality seeds are a pre-requisite for sustainable agriculture and new seed technologies will help farmers increase crop production, reduce costs, and subsequently help them reap their desired dividends.

By embracing new seed technology, modern breeding techniques by deploying the precision phenotypic, and rapid population development techniques, India can become a leading producer and exporter of oilseeds in the world. However, this can only be a success if the change is embraced at the grassroots level.

New seed technology and innovation in oilseeds and its dual advantage to Indian agriculture

Oilseeds, like mustard, groundnut, and sunflower are crops that can be used to produce edible oils. They are in high demand both internationally and domestically. If new seed technologies are used to cultivate oilseeds, it’ll help increase output and productivity at a larger scale.

Cultivating oilseeds, especially mustard, can provide farmers with a stable source of income, as the demand for edible oils will only increase in the future. Of the 8 million plus ha of mustard being cultivated in India fifty percent of the farmers still grow varieties where the yield levels are less than half of hybrids. Transitioning these farmers to high yielding hybrid technologies will substantially increase the mustard yields and productivity in India. As an example, if we just bring Mustard acres in India to global yield levels of 1980 kg/ha, we can reduce edible oil imports by a good 15% (within the same area) and hybrid seeds will play a key role in reversing balance of trade. Furthermore, new breeding technologies can be exploited to develop hybrids that are tolerant to multiple diseases. The seed applied technologies can further help protect the potential yields. Oil quality and quantity can also be enhanced in hybrids through modern breeding technologies. Additionally, oilseeds require less water and are comparatively more resilient to weather-related issues than other crops.

New seed technologies that are available can provide significantly higher yields with better quality seeds than conventional. It is also proven that these seeds have the potential to produce 2-3X yield when compared to conventional seeds. Raising yields is important to ensure food security and prosperity.

In the case of mustard, better-quality seeds contribute up to a 2-4 percent increase in oil percent as opposed to conventional seeds along with higher yields. As a result, farmers will receive better and commensurate prices for their crops leading to more income and profits.

The production of mustard stood at 85 lakh tons in 2020-21 and is expected to rise to 109.5 tons in 2021-22. India is the fourth-largest contributor of oilseeds in the world, producing 37.15 million tons in 2021-22, with rapeseed and mustard contributing 28.6% of total oilseed production. In totality, oilseeds are at the centre of food, water and energy security as they help solve conventional problems and contribute to doubling farmers’ income.

Aspirations to realities: Road ahead for India

We live in a world where commodity prices are driven by global demand and supply, means our farmers are competing with the global farmers to get the right prices of their produce. Indian farmers deserve best of genetics and technology suiting their requirements to compete better. Modern day plant biotechnology tools are important for the oil seed breeding program to accelerate the per acre productivity and to bring value added traits for the benefit of the oil seed farmers and the subsequent consumers.

While the production of oilseeds is growing, a lot more can be achieved. These numbers can improve if there’s a mass uptake and awareness of new seed technologies. Through National Oil Seeds Mission, the government has taken a very timely step to promote cross sector collaborations. To make oilseeds more profitable for all, especially farmers, more oil testing laboratories are required to check the quantity & quality of oil content in the produce.

Community uptake and awareness will ensure farmers embrace their role as providers

There is also a need to enhance knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of seed systems, marketing, distribution of these seeds, and training farmers on agronomic practices. This will help farmers overcome the limitations of traditional farming practices and generate demand for higher quality seeds.

Smaller holder farmers need access to a variety of hybrid seeds. Hybrid seeds offer farmers higher yield potential seeds, helping increase yield & profitability when compared to conventional seed varieties. The adoption of hybrid seeds in India requires intervention from policymakers, the public-private sector, and research institutions. There is a need for ground level activations for awareness, acceptance, adoption of good agricultural practices and demystifying seed technologies in different farming communities.

With this kind of impetus, India can emerge as a resilient global seed hub in the region with a focus on sustainable agriculture. We must aggressively foster an environment wherein policy enables changes in new seed technology area, while the private sector brings in more comprehensive and sustainable solutions and work in tandem with a vision to increase productivity and quality of produce, to enrich the lives of those who produce and those who consume, ensuring progress for generations to come.

Read the original article at https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/emerging-seed-technologies-for-oil-seeds-for-increased-yields-and-contribution-to-farmers-income/