General Application of Biotechnology in Agriculture

Abstract

New agricultural technologies, in general, need to cover two societal requirements-ensuring a safe, nutritious, and affordable food supply for the rapid increasing population, and at the same time, minimizing the negative environmental impacts of food production itself. Current agricultural technologies such as plant breeding and agrochemical research and development (R and D), environmentally sensitive and economic farm management practices will continue to play a major role in assuring a plentiful and safe food sup- ply. Advances in all these areas will be required to meet world food production needs. Plant biotechnology complements plant breeding efforts by increasing the diversity of genes and germplasm available for incorporation into crops and by significantly shortening the time required for the production of new cultivars, varieties and hybrids. From an economic perspective, plant biotechnology offers significant potential for the seed, agrochemical, food processing and pharmaceutical industries to develop new products and manufacturing processes. Perhaps the most compelling attribute of the application of biotechnology to agriculture is its relevance to helping ensure the availability of environmentally sustainable supplies of safe, nutritious and affordable food and to providing a readily accessible, economically viable technology for addressing primary food production needs. Keeping in view, the article focusses on the biotechnological approaches for building a new tool which can significantly impact crop productivity in a sustainable, environmentally sound manner.