INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - APRIL 1st - APRIL 15th - 2008
MAHYCO SIGNS DEAL WITH ARCADIA FOR SHARING SAFE CROP TECHNOLOGY
Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company Ltd (Mahyco), one of the largest seed companies in India, has signed an agreement with the California-based leading agricultural technology developer Arcadia Biosciences Inc to develop agri-commodities, which are safer for human health.
Under the agreement, Arcadia will help Mahyco to carry out research on developing eco-friendly plant technologies. As an immediate offshoot of the agreement, Mahyco will have access to Arcadia’s nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and salt tolerance technologies to develop several key crops. The agreement also provides Mahyco the license to commercialise the newly developed plant technologies in India and South Asia. The agreement with Arcadia Biosciences has allowed Mahyco to bring advanced agricultural technologies to a region that is experiencing rapid population growth and is challenged by difficult agricultural and environmental conditions, Mahyco’s joint director of research Usha Barwale Zehr said in a statement.
Application of the latest NUE technology on Indian soil will help raising crop productivity, at the same time lowering nitrogen fertiliser consumption. Salt tolerance technology will help reduce the need for fresh water resources for irrigation, according to Ms Zehr.
Nitrogen fertiliser is a significant source of greenhouse gas emission. The portend of emission through its application is more in India. Farmers here will need to claim more land to increase agriculture output, which will subsequently lead to higher usage of nitrogen fertiliser and the scarce water resources. Due to Indian farmers’ fad for nitrogen fertilisers for raising crop yield, the soil is increasingly getting affected by various abiotic stresses.
Based on the current rate of p o p u l a t i o n growth, India is expected to overtake China in 2030 as the world’s most populated country. Concurrent with this growth, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has estimated that 221 million people in India, or about one-fifth of the population, are underfed. This is compelling India to increase agricultural productivity.
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