FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY

6.1   Science-based agriculture had started in the early years of 20th century in India. Green revolution increased food grain production but at the cost of intensive use of irrigation water, fertilizer and other inputs. This resulted in problems of soil salinization, groundwater pollution, nutrient imbalances, emergence of new pests and disease and environmental degradation. The problem is compounded by constant rise in population. In Orissa, food production is further affected due to urbanization and the State's proneness to natural calamities like droughts, floods and cyclones. In tribal dominated areas, there is a serious situation due to malnutrition and deforestation. Hence, there is an urgent need to explore alternatives that will help to produce enough food with better nutritional quality by adopting environment-friendly technologies. It is in this context, that biotechnology has considerable potential to help.

6.2  Recent advances in recombinant technology and tissue culture have made it possible to mobilize the genes of interest (Gene Revolution) within and across the plant and animal kingdoms. It is now possible to identify, isolate, transfer and express genes almost at will. Therefore, it is possible now to produce more plant, animal and forest products with better nutritional quality, through the use of various biotechnological tools.

Biofertilizers and biopesticides :

6.3   Isolation and screening of native nitrogen fixing and phosphate solubilizing micro-organisms, preparation of organic manures from city wastes using biotechnological methods, and production and quality control of biopesticides like NPV, Trichogramma and Pseudomonas will be taken up. Agricultural and kitchen wastes can be utilized for raising high yielding varieties of crops, which ultimately will help to produce quality meat, healthy animals and small live-stock for supplemental income of the farmer.

Post-harvest technology:

6.4   Genetic improvement of horticultural crops will help in the development of processing industries. Production of secondary metabolites like flavours, pigments and perfumes as by-products of tissue culture industry needs to be given attention.  Biotechnological approaches can also be used for increasing the shelf-life of vegetables and fruits.

Animal products:

6.5   Livestock encompasses a wide range of products like milk, meat and eggs. The conventional methods of producing these products are time consuming, labour intensive and less remunerative because of lower production and poor quality. With advancement in biotechnological tools, it is possible to increase production and productivity and to improve the quality of products.

 6.6   The following steps will help in the improvement of live-stock:

i) Standardization of embryo transfer techniques in cows and buffaloes for rapid multiplication of elite livestock. ii) Standardization of techniques to induce super ovulation, fertilization and embryo transfer for rapid multiplication of elite livestock. iii) Development of protocols for production of monoclonal antibodies of important live-stock diseases prevalent in Orissa. iv) Genetic improvement of local breeds of cows, buffaloes, goats and sheep by employing modern tools of biotechnology and genetic engineering. v) Biotechnological applications for preventing spoilage of meat, milk and milk  products.