Knowledge or Business Initiative??

India and the United States have agreed to intensify efforts
to develop a climate supportive of trade and investment.
With the goal of doubling bilateral trade in three years,
both have agreed on a wide area of “cooperation” and in the
farm sector this is purportedly to be achieved through the
Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture with a three-year financial
commitment to link universities, technical institutions
and businesses to support education, joint research, and
capacity building including in the area of biotechnology.
The Government of India, under the auspices of the
Indian Council of Agricultural Research, had set apart
around Rs 10,000 million, with New Delhi approving the concept
of “Knowledge Society.” This is apart from the amount
set aside for this agreement i.e the Indo-US knowledge agreement.
Surely, these initiatives could provide some impetus to
Indian agriculture and trade but it would be naïve to believe
that Indian agriculture would quickly undergo a major transformation.
The policy makers have to exercise caution especially
in matters of tariff reduction and market access. The
deal allows USA to have unhindered access to the indigenous
gene pool of India thereby increasing chances of bio-piracy.
Considering the slow domestic output growth and demand
surge, it is highly unlikely that India would be a major
exporter of agricultural produce to the United States or for
that matter to any other country. What seems to have missed
most people is the fact that over two-thirds of US farm produce
is intended for overseas export and this makes India a
target market.
It is very important for India to ensure that domestic
interests are given priority over market access. Furthermore
the US government on behalf of the multi-national companies
(MNCs) is trying to push patented biotechnology products in
India. All the agro-biotech products must be tested and evaluated
for its appropriateness for Indian conditions. The debacle
of the Bt Cotton seeds produced by Monsanto in Andhra
Pradesh and other states is a testament to this.
This may sound ironical in an era where the theft of
genetic resources by Western MNCs enables them to make
huge profits over patented genetic mutations of the same
materials which belong to the poor. If this arrangement goes
astray into un-chartered territory, it might lead to what is
called as "official bio-piracy".The India-US “Knowledge
Initiative” in agricultural research with the prime focus on
genetically modified crops research has to be critically examined
in this light.