LUDHIANA,
A one-day state level “Biosafety Capacity Building Workshop” was jointly organized by the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and the Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL), New Delhi, today. The workshop was supported and facilitated by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)/Global Environment Facility (GEF) Supported Phase II Capacity Building Project on Biosafety; Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC); Government of India. More than 100 delegates participated in the workshop. A technical session on “Biosafety: Regulatory Framework and Capacity Building Initiatives” was chaired by Dr Parveen Chhuneja, Director, School of Agricultural Biotechnology (SAB), PAU, whereas, the technical session on the “Status of Research and Development in Punjab” was chaired by Dr S.S. Banga, ICAR National Professor, Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, PAU.

A keynote speaker, Dr K.C. Bansal, Former Director, National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, said “Earlier we had Green Revolution technologies, today we have biotechnology, which is an extension of traditional plant breeding.” Speaking on the topic “Biosafety Regulations and GM Crops: An Update,” Dr Bansal referred to several traits of GM crops in India. Having resistance to viral, fungal and bacterial diseases, GM crops could tackle malnutrition, he observed. “As per the global area of biotech crops (2016), three developing countries including Brazil, Argentina and India (especially biotech cotton) grew 91 per cent of biotech crops. India was the largest exporter of cotton in 2016 with Bt cotton cultivated on a large scale,” he divulged. Acquainting the farmers with GM mustard hybrid, he said it will give benefits to Punjab farmers just as Bt cotton has given. Biosafety concerns have been expressed in agriculture, he said, while promoting new breeding technologies which are precise, science-based and have high speed.

Dr Chhuneja said PAU has been engaged in biotechnology research for the last 25 years. New wheat varieties, Unnat PBW 343 and Unnat PBW 550 have been developed by PAU using biotechnological approaches and are the first to be released in India, she added.

Dr Vibha Ahuja, Chief General Manager, BCIL, welcomed the eminent scientists, researchers and the farmers of Punjab. She delivered her talk on “Science and Safety Aspects of GM Crops.” Dr Sonia Kaushik, Assistant Manager, BCIL, coordinated the programme.

Scientists, namely Dr Prabhjeet Singh, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar; Dr Siddharth Tiwari, Plant Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute; Dr J.S. Sandhu and Dr Prashant Mohanpuria, SAB, PAU; gave presentations on research initiatives in agri-biotechnology in Punjab.

At the workshop, other speakers who gave presentations included Dr S.J. Rahman, Member of Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation; Dr Ajit Dua, Chief Executive Officer, Punjab Biotechnology Incubator; and Dr Murali Krishna, Joint Director, MoEFCC.