Biotech Advancing India's Agriculture

The current market for agri-biotech in India is growing at a fast pace due to rising needs of safe, sustainable and efficient agriculture, food security and technological innovation. The Indian agri-biotech industry is expected to exhibit a compounded annual growth rate of more than 15 percent in the coming ten years. The sector comprises GM seeds, bio fertilizers, bio pesticides, molecular markers and many more products and services needed to increase the crop yield and productivity. The country has a large number of agro-climatic regions, which is why it is the right place for developing and using the biotech products for different crops. One of the success stories is the genetically modified crops where the use of Bt cotton, has boosted productivity and reduced the application of pesticides after it was introduced. Such success has now led to the opening of the flood gates for other GM crops.

The National Biotechnology Development Strategy and programmes under the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) are supporting R&D and commercialization projects. These policies aim at improving the biotech infrastructure and encouraging research, partnerships and providing funding opportunities to both new age biotech firms and old economy firms. Also, the National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) popularizes the use of biotechnological interventions in sustainable farming. Another factor of growth is the emergence of agritech startups, which is typical for Asia Pacific. These firms are building on new technologies in genomics, bioinformatics and molecular breeding to bring new solutions which suit both the resource poor farmer and the large commercial farmer.

In this special issue, we introduce you to the top companies in this segment. Industry Outlook has identified the select few companies that have done particularly well with a high level of dedication. We have found that they have gone the extra mile in proving their commitment to excellence in an integrated manner.

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