Technology Transfer in Cotton

Not AvailableAgricultural development system represents a complex organization including research, education, extension, training and clientele groups. The Indian textile industry occupies a pivotal place in the country’s economy. With over 1500 mill units, about 40 lakhs handlooms, 17 lakhs power loom units, the textile industry is the single largest industry of the country. It accounts for 20 per cent of industrial production and 7.5 per cent of GDP. The different sectors of the industry provide employment to about 27 million people. Besides, a large population is engaged in cotton growing and ginning, manufacture of man made fibres, chemicals, trade, transport, banking, insurance, etc; derives its livelihood from the indirect employment generated by the textile industry. Thus, technology transfer in cotton production for sustainable cotton development becomes imperative since there are considerable gaps in research and development (R & D) activities to cotton and also it becomes more cost intensive and complex

Transgenic Bt Cotton

Not AvailableCotton is one of the major fibre crops of global significance. It is cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions of more than eighty countries of world occupying nearly 33 m ha with an annual production of 19 to 20 million tones of bales. China, U.S.A., India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Australia, Brazil, Greece, Argentina and Egypt are major cotton producing countries. These countries contribute nearly 85% of the global cotton production. In India, cotton is being cultivated in 9.0 m ha and stands first in acreage. The crop is grown in varied agro-climatic situation across nine major states viz. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The crop is also grown on small area in Orissia, Assam, U.P and West Bengal. Nearly 60 million people are engaged in cotton production, marketing and processing. The textile industry which utilizes the cotton provides employment to about 16% of the total workforce. Cotton in its various forms also serves as raw material for more than 25 industries

Groundnut

Groundnut, a crop rich in nutrients, originated in South America and spread to the rest of the world. Cultivated groundnut contains a fraction of the genetic diversity present in their closely related wild relatives, which is not more than 13 %, due to domestication bottleneck. Closely related ones are placed in section Arachis , which have not been extensively utilized until now due to ploidy differences between the cultivated and wild relatives. In order to overcome Arachis species utilization bottleneck, a large number of tetraploid synthetics were developed at the Legume Cell Biology Unit of Grain Legumes Program, ICRISAT, India. Evaluation of synthetics for some of the constraints showed that these were good sources of multiple disease and pest resistances. Some of the synthetics were utilized by developing ABQTL mapping populations, which were screened for some biotic and abiotic constraints. Phenotyping experiments showed ABQTL progeny lines with traits of interest necessary for the improvement of groundnut

Bt cotton sustainability needs integration of complementary technologies for the cotton farmers in India

AbstractBiased conclusions of long-term impact of Bt cotton published in Nature Plants March 2020 threatens to derail technological development. We therefore advocate integrating available technologies for sustainability of Bt adoption in India and prospecting for all including biotechnological developments.</jats:p