India’s agri-tech & seed firms join hands to form “Alliance for Agri Innovation”

New Delhi: India’s leading seed and agri technology companies including Rasi Seeds, Shriram Bioseed, Bayer Bioscience, Dow Agro Sciences, DuPont Pioneer, Mahyco, Metahelix, Monsanto and Syngenta have announced the launch of ‘Alliance for Agri Innovation (AAI)’, a new industry body to promote new and emerging agricultural technologies for the benefit of Indian farmers.

AAI will focus on and work towards promoting the development of agricultural biotechnology and other emerging plant breeding innovations in India to create value for farmers in India. AAI will also work with all stakeholders to create an ecosystem which provides protection for Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and is thus conducive for value creation through innovation.

Dr Shivendra Bajaj, Executive Director, Alliance for Agriculture Innovation said, “With more than half the population dependent on agriculture and the Government’s target to double farmers’ income by 2022, the agriculture sector needs to embrace a wide gamut of technology enabled opportunities. Our members have come together to create an industry-wide alliance to promote innovations in seed technologies that include biotechnology and other plant breeding technologies. We will be working to engage with all sections of society to create an enabling environment that would allow the benefits of agri-technology to spur the development of the agri economy.

Dr Paresh Verma, President, Bioseed South East Asia and Research Director, Bioseed Research India and President, Alliance for Agriculture Innovation said, “The agriculture sector in India, which is overwhelmingly dependent on monsoon, is still the mainstay of Indian economy. Extremely low productivity continues to be a bottleneck in our efforts to sustain India’s food and nutritional security. This will become even more challenging as climatic adversities increase due to the impact of climate change. Through AAI, we aim to engage with all the stakeholders in the eco-system, especially the farmers, to promote development and adoption of innovative technologies to address these challenges. The members of AAI are constantly working towards finding innovative solutions through research to help Indian farmers find smart ways to use the natural resources and grow food more efficiently.”

The Alliance for Agriculture Innovation will work towards accelerating the pace of agricultural growth in India by strengthening linkages between researchers, regulators, policy makers and the industry. These partnerships are required to promote an enabling environment to address the issues of improving crop productivity thereby enhancing farmer incomes, address the issue of domestic food security and mitigate and counter the impact of climate change on Indian agriculture. The Alliance, which has all leading agri-biotech companies as its members, strives to become the leading industry body in India committed to promoting innovation in agriculture.