Call for Proposals for the “Mission Programme on Biotech-Krishi Innovation Science Application Network (Biotech-KISAN)

INTRODUCTION:
Scientists work on problems that interest them. The world faces enormous challenges with large populations, diminishing resources and the consequences of climate change. Scientist are eager to address these problems and find implementable solutions but need to develop a close connect with society for the best solutions to emerge. One very difficult challenge is sustainable food security for all. Over the years, agriculture productivity of the country has been severely affected in both quality and quantity. The main reasons affecting productivity are:

• Water: drought, flood, availability and poor quality are major issues.
• Soil: poor soil health, lack of application of modern technologies in agriculture due to lack of knowledge and awareness, abiotic and biotic stress due to climate change,
• Seed: lack of availability of quality agricultural planting material at affordable cost to small and marginal farmers,
• Market: collapse of extension system for dissemination of new technologies among farmers, lack of use of available bio-resources at farm / village level for proper nutrient management and processing, packaging and marketing

The problems faced by the Indian farmer are special, small land holdings are the norm, a very small number of livestock which is often the primary source of livelihood and 15 different agro climatic zones. Solutions developed in the lab, primarily in the developed world do not necessarily address the problems faced by the Indian farmer.

There is a need for direct linkage between science laboratories and farms; it is now imperative that the Indian scientist understand the problems of the local farmer and provide solutions to those problems. Likewise, it is necessary to expose farmers to the scientific solutions available by bringing him to the scientific environment/laboratory. This close interaction and need based research will allow innovative solutions and technologies to be developed and applied at farm level.