The seed industry has demanded that the government adopt gene editing (GE) in Indian agriculture research and allow commercial release of varieties developed using such technology. The have highlighted that China is already ahead in it, particularly in developing rice varieties having more than 10 tonnes per hectare yield due to early adoption.

Briefing media after the annual general meeting of the Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII), leaders of the sector highlighted the invincibility of GE technology as the whole world is moving on the same direction.

K Vijayaraghavan, Chairman and CEO of Hyderabad-based Sathguru Management Consultants, said that the industry would like the development of new technologies and their approval so that they can be made available to farmers. “All the genetic technologies as you know can be delivered only through the seed to the farmers because all these are embedded inside the seed,” he said.

However, he clarified that there is no need to mention about technology in the proposed Seed Bill as the law only deals with quality aspect whereas there are other regulations for technologies. “The new seed law, once this bill gets passed, will basically focus on the quality of the seed,” he said.

Asked about objection by the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh on the mention of the word ‘transgenic’ in the draft Bill, he said it is with reference clarify that even the transgenic varieties should be tested and registered just like the provision for testing and registration of non-transgenic varieties. Because the current Seed Act is old and at that time there was no transgenic, so the government has decided in the current bill to include that, he said.

Asked on the industry’s views on gene editing, he said the seed sector is in favor of development, approval and introduction of new technologies -- both genetically modified (GM) technology as well as GE technology. “Because these technologies are critical to increase productivity in the country, especially in these key crops where we are not self-sufficient at this time. Even in crops like cotton where we have become importers from a point where we were at one time (10 years ago) we were the second largest exporter, these technologies needed,” he said.

The FSII is in favour of policies which will encourage, incentivise and accelerate the development and introduction of new technologies so the farmers can benefit. He further said that gene editing can expedite the development of technologies like climate resilient varieties, insect and pest tolerance. “If conventional breeding takes years of backcrossing, suppose we want to develop a variety or a hybrid which is tolerant to a disease it takes generation of backcrossing. By using technology like gene editing, we can expedite and we can be more precise in that,” he said.

In the context of climate change, which is real, to develop new varieties, hybrids by using less resources, there is need to use these technologies, he said.

In India during last 20 years, the hybrid technology has doubled productivity. Today, the food production is meeting the demand because of hybrid technologies, both in food crops as well as vegetables. So it used to take about 25 years to double productivity in most of the food crops. Now, with the new technologies like GE, some of the countries are going to double it in half the time, industry leaders said. But Vijayaraghavan admitted that using hybrids would accelerate demand for fertilisers, even if there is a reduced water use. At the same time, the proportion of fertiliser use is much lower considering the rise in output/yield, he noted.

Denying that GM technology has run into trouble in the world, industry leaders said that it depends on what trait one is targeting, whether that can be addressed through gene editing or genetic modification, the two tools which are available to the researchers.

Almost 120 countries or more are eating GM food and feed while the GM crops are in cultivation in 63 countries.

FSII, which aims to raise India’s share in global seed trade to 10 per cent by 2035 from around 1 per cent now, emphasises on strengthening domestic innovation and self-reliance in strategically important crops such as oilseeds and pulses. Indian seed industry, valued at $3.6 billion, is expected to cross $5 billion by 2030, it said.

Ajai Rana, Chairman of FSII and MD & CEO, Savannah Seeds, said: “India has the science, the talent and the farmers to become a major player in the global seed market. Government initiatives such as the national Mission on High-Yielding Seeds are important steps. The industry is ready to invest more in research, especially in oilseeds and pulses.”

Published on September 24, 2026