Inaugural Address 2nd International Congress Of Plant Physiology On Sustainable Plant Productivity Under Changing Enviroment

TECHNOLOGIES FOR TRANSFORMATION

I am indeed delighted to participate in the 2nd International Congress of Plant Physiology on Sustainable Plant Productivity under Changing Environment. I would like to congratulate the organizers and the participants of this important Congress. The topic selected for the Congress is indeed timely and I am sure, this Congress will provide opportunities to scientists to exchange knowledge and bring out results and action plan for gains in plant productivity. My greetings. I was thinking what thoughts I can share with this gathering. Let me narrate one incident.

Second Green Revolution

India's first green revolution was the result of partnership of farmers, agricultural scientists and the political visionaries. Here, I would like to narrate an incident while I was having a meeting with Shri C. Subramaniam. Very often I used to meet Shri C. Subramaniam at Chennai. He was the mainarchitect of first green revolution. Whenever I met him, I remember, at the age of 90 years, he was unfurling his second green revolution. The first green revolution was the process of seed to grain. The second green revolution that he envisaged is soil to seed to grain to food to marketing. He visualised a change of chain of not grain alone, but food processing and marketing.

Agricultural scientists have to play a very important role by contributing to the second green revolution which will enable India to become a developed nation in the agricultural sector. The production of cereals needs to increase from the present 200 million tonnes to 300 million tonnes. Similarly, in the case of fruits and vegetables the production needs to increase. But the requirement of land for the increasing population as well as for much greater forestation and environmental preservation activities would demand that the present 170 million hectares of arable land will have to be brought down to 100 million hectares by 2020. All our agricultural scientists and technologists have to work in this direction of doubling the productivity of the available land with lesser area available for cultivation. The type of technologies needed would be in biotechnology, proper training to the farmers, additional modern equipments for preservation and storage etc.

Challenges

Recently, I was visiting the State of Rajasthan. As you all know, for the last 4-5 years, Rajasthan is undergoing a severe drought. The cattle population is higher than the human population. I would urge the agricultural scientists and technologists to find ways and means for better fodder management and cultivation. Also, new varieties of seeds have to be developed wherein with minimum water and time; we get high yield fodder for the cattle. Particularly for the desert cattle, high yield fodder has to be a priority. I am sure, the agricultural scientists and technologists can contribute in a big way if seeds are developed to suit various tropical areas.

Another concern I wanted to share with you. Wherever there are people below poverty line, there is also problem for the availability of water. It costs energy and money to bring water for specialised agriculture to dry areas. What are the agricultural technologies, water conservation methodologies that can help lift the people who are below the poverty line. I feel, these are the aspects that this Congress should address. Solutions may be just beyond agriculture alone spanning to animal husbandry, poultry, agro processing and other related activities like medicinal plants. .

Water for future generations

More than 70% of earth surface is having water; but only one percent is available as fresh water for drinking purposes. Currently, more than half of the world's six billion population is without access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Twenty thousand children are dying every day due to polluted drinking water more than the total mortality due to cancer, aids, wars and accidents. By the year 2025 when the world population touches eight billion, as many as seven billion will be living under conditions moderate, high and extreme water scarcity. There is a four-fold path towards safe, fresh drinking water. The first is to re-distribute water supply; the second is to seek new sources; the third is to save and reduce demand for water; and the fourth is to recycle used water supplies.

What can be the vision for the nation?

The Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) under the Department of Science and Technology have brought out a set of 35 Technology Vision documents, which is a pathway to realise this mission. The Technology Vision 2020 consisted of 17 technology packages in the core sectors such as agriculture and food, healthcare, infrastructure and strategic industries. The Task Teams with nearly 500 experts of our country worked for two years, deliberated national status of various branches of national development and generated 35 documents detailing the steps to be taken for creating wealth for the nation and the well being of our people. "Technology" is the most vital key for achieving the goals. The vision deals with agro food processing, food and agriculture, health-care, electric power, civil aviation, waterways, engineering industries, life sciences and bio-technology, strategic industries and materials and processing. There is a tremendous link between each technology package.

The plant is unique source of the all organic compounds, and oxygen of the planet providing the biological resources for the existence of oxygen-dependent heterotrophic organisms, and maintenance of ozone defence shield. Plant physiology is the basis for the development of protocols of genetic transformation of the development of transgenic crops. Recently, plant physiology is strongly placed to help in the drive for a more efficient, productive and environmentally acceptable agricultural industry, as the World's populations expand inexorably. Plant physiologists deal with physiological processes at levels of complexity ranging from a single molecule to whole organisms, and ecology to agriculture. Successfully solving these important problems requires the utilizations of the methods and techniques of cognate disciplines, and thus the responsibility of plant physiologists become more important. Depletion of arable lands, either through development, or through agricultural practices has led to erosion, salinisation, or simple loss of productivity through over-use. The world Research Institute estimates that nearly 40% of the world's agricultural lands are depleted in some way. A related issue is depletion of ground water used for irrigation, a particular problem in certain parts of the world.

There is a need to enhance crop productivity via a development and application of an integrated understanding of crop adaptation from a 'gene to field' perspective aimed to adopt an integrated approach to understanding crop adaptation traits and to develop and apply this knowledge in plant improvement programmes. Strengthening agricultural research and education including Plant Physiology at national and international levels is, therefore, important to fulfil future human needs. There is a need for plant scientists world wide to revise the approaches for shouldering their responsibility towards the global needs for food, rural development and human health and well-being at one hand and the conservation and efficient use of resources at the other.

Five Mega Projects to transform the nation to Developed Country

We have identified five areas where India has a core competence for an integrated action. (1) Agriculture and food processing - we have to put a target of 360 million tons of food and agricultural production. Other areas of agriculture and agro food processing would bring prosperity to rural people and speed up the economic growth. (2) Reliable and quality electric power for all parts of the country. (3) Education and Healthcare - we have seen, based on the experience, education and healthcare are inter related. (4) Information Technology - This is one of our core competence. We believe, this area can be used to promote education in remote areas and also to create national wealth. (5) Strategic sectors - This area, fortunately, witnessed the growth in nuclear technology, space technology and defence technology.

These five areas are closely inter-related and lead to national, food, economic and security. A strong partnership among the R&D, academy, Industry and the community as a whole with the Government departments will be essential to accomplish the vision.

Conclusion

I am glad that Indian Society for Plant Physiology has taken lead in organising the 2nd International Congress of Plant Physiology on Sustainable Plant Productivity under Changing Environment. I am aware that more than 800 delegates are attending this Congress form 20 countries and different parts of India. I call for the attention and collective vision of all of you participating in this meeting and the rest of the scientific fraternity to formulate a performance oriented action plan and strategy to enable sustainable plant productivity under the changing environment. I hope that the deliberations will be fruitful for the mankind. I wish the Congress a great success. 

Thank you.