Cutting-edge farm technology

THIS refers to a recent analysis on Punjab agriculture by Mr P.P.S. Gill which I read in the Internet edition of The Tribune. Evidently, he emphasised the need for seeking new directions for reorienting agricultural research with an ultimate aim to make it more competitive and help uplift the ailing economy of rural Punjab.

Let us have a look at the present agricultural scenario around the world. Agricultural research is fast becoming commercialised these days. Biotech giants are trying to control food production (quantity and quality) through quick patenting of crop performance enhancing genes. To prevent the recurrent use of seed of its high-yielding cultivars of self-pollinated crops like wheat and rice, Monsanto has already fixed these species with the terminator gene technology which forces the farmer to buy new seed every time he sows. (Terminator gene poisons the embryo of the seed produced on the plant grown from the company’s seed rendering it unfit for germination.)

State-of-the-art technologies are being adopted. In the beginning of this decade, plant biotechnology research was focused on single-gene studies which led to a little progress —namely, insect and herbicide tolerant crops and the invention of softening resistant tomato. The former two are practically viable, as according to one estimate, 30 per cent of US soya farmland, 25 per cent of its corn and 40 per cent of its cotton will be planted with such seeds. Rotton-resistant tomatoes are no longer marketed.

Now it has been assessed that the agricultural revolution may finally be on its ways by using mass-scale technologies (genomics, bioinformatics) currently popular in drug discovery. To achieve this, Monsanto has signed an agreement worth $ 218 million (the actual working research contingency of most of the agricultural universities in India may not exceed $ 0.5 million, individually) over the next five years with Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. It will help Monsanto to use genomic platform technologies of Millennium to quickly isolate agriculturally relevant genes, analyse their expression, and create new products. The objective is to evolve corn with increased protein for helping livestock producers, to create soyabeans with genes capable of producing a greater quantity of usable oil, and to create plants armed with genes capable of producing cancer-protective or cholesterol lowering compounds (concept of “pharm-ing”).

Monsanto plans to deploy these multiple genes in a single plant. The exclusive rights will prevent this kind of progress of other companies for many years. These ideas have been conceived with 80 per cent probability of 100 per cent success by top scientific visionaries who understand market realities better than anyone else. By tracking “quantitative trait loci” (QTL) in crop plants, these visionary and computational biologists are trying to tag multiple genes capable of giving a high yield, stress (drought, flood, salinity) tolerance and disease resistance. The target is to achieve an 18 per cent increase in yield, and rumour is that they have already achieved a 10 per cent jump.

In the crop protection field, genomic database information derived from the DNA sequence from bacteria and lower plants is being applied across higher species because much DNA information overlaps among the species due to its nature. The cellular and biochemical pathways explored in fruit fly (to be more precise, beetle and moth models are being added) are helping to know the targets and eventually find new chemistries for producing insecticides for overcoming insect resistance, rendering humans, animals and beneficial insects safe, and thus making the “spray and pray” philosophy of old companies irrelevant.

Indian agricultural research shall have to face this cutting edge technology competition — there is no time to sleep and snooze. It becomes essential to act and move along for a better tomorrow. Eventually, the goal is to improve crop traits for better efficiency for growers. How to get ourselves integrated in the process is a million dollar question for the country’s planners. Prevail or perish is the clear writing on the wall.

NARINDER PAL SINGH DHILLON

Okinawa (Japan)

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Weakest government

Before elections to the present Lok Sabha, the BJP made the tall claim of giving to the country a clean, strong and stable government. It held the previous UF and Congress governments responsible for all the ills of the country, specially the prevailing all-round corruption. It described the UF coalition as a very weak government and attributed this to the fact that it was a combination of several political parties, having the outside support of the Congress and the CPM.

The BJP entered the election arena by forging an alliance with as many as 18 political parties, which reminds one of the nature of the German federation of the imperial days in which the state of Prussia enjoyed the most dominant position. Because of this, Germany was described as a compact between a lion, half a dozen foxes and a score of mice.

Despite the fact that the BJP outnumbers its coalition partners in terms of its Lok Sabha strength, it does not enjoy the dominant position of Prussia. The experience of BJP rule shows that the decisions of the government are dictated only by pressures from its constituents. The UF government was comparatively more cohesive as none of its partners left the coalition nor came out with any threat to quit it. Its government fell because of the withdrawal of outside support by the Congress.

The present regime is the weakest government the country has ever had. And the most distinctive feature of this government is that it does not seem to work. It is directionless. Its ministers speak differently over political problems and policies. There is little unanimity among its ministers over matters of policy.

M. HASHIM KIDWAI

New Delhi

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Learning languages

The letter “Legislators’ study tour” (Sept. 9) by Mr M.R. Pai prompts me to remark that every MP and MLA must try to learn one modern language other than his own.

We dislike shabbiness in dress, but we often tolerate clumsiness and awkwardness in the use of our own language. Thus a Punjabi may learn Bengali. By learning a new language, your mind is no longer confined to the comfortable prison of your national language and life. A new world of thought, custom, poetry and history is revealed to you. You cease to be a narrow-minded, half-educated “nationalist”. You are on your way to becoming a cosmopolitan person.

I recall two good sayings: “With each newly-learned language, one acquires a new soul”; “A man who knows two languages is worth two men”.

When an MLA or MP has learned a foreign language like French, then he/she looks forward to the pleasure of travelling among the people who speak it. At last, one is thrilled at finding oneself in a strange land, with French faces, names, customs, gestures, equality, fluency, coffee-and-milk, tips, French curses and oaths, etc.

If you are a Punjabi and learn both French and German, your mind is immersed in an Punjabi-French-German cleansing bath.

AVTAR NARAIN CHOPRA

Kurukshetra

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Unwelcome phone bills

Technological advancement cannot be of much use in changing the sickening work culture in the government departments if the "babus" are not trained to change their mindset. At the moment I have in my mind the functioning of the post offices in Chandigarh.

They refuse to accept a telephone bill if it does not pertain to their area. I came to know about this unimaginative rule at the Sector 29 post office the other day.

Initially the official concerned refused to accept my telephone bill on the ground that it was from a different sector. However, after much persuasion he agreed to entertain the request, but on the condition that this should not happen again. Does this not amount to causing an avoidable inconvenience to the public?

KULDIP KALIA

Chandigarh