biotechnology & nano technology

1. TECHNOLOGIES TO TRANSFORM
AGRICULTURE IN INDIA
Presented By :
G.HARISH KUMAR
17080519001
M.Sc.Ag (GPB)
MSSSoA
CUTM

2. DECLINING PRODUCTIVITY, DIMINISHING FOOD GRAIN PRODUCTION, GROWING
POPULATION AND FOOD SECURITY ARE THE PRESSING CONCERNS OF INDIAN
AGRICULTURE
Depleting
natural resources
– land, water
bodies etc.
Lack of
improved seeds
Menace of pest
and diseases
Effective plant
nutrients
Abiotic stresses
Environmental
concerns
1951 2001 2050
90%
Declining Per capita Availability of land
Rapid Urbanization, Rise of industrial belts, Soil Erosion, Climate change
There is need for sustainable technological interventions to address concerns
In 2050 Indian population will rise to 1.7 billion while Calorie demand to increase by 60%

3. Adopting Agro biotechnology in Indian agriculture

4. AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY IS KEY CONTRIBUTOR TO
ENHANCED FOOD PRODUCTION GLOBALLY
• Government support and initiative
• Public Private Partnership
• Industry Diversification
• Skilled human resource pool
• Policy Momentum
Target
Areas
Crop Protection
Crop Nutrition
Abiotic Stress
Management
Quality/Nutrition
Enhancement
Biotechnological techniques and tools have been used to augment food production, boost
productivity through development of technologically improved biotech crops and
biological inputs
Over the 3.5 decades crop genetic engineering has addressed significant crop
improvement needs globally
Drivers for growth

5. Global Biotechnological Interventions in improving Seed traits
Yield Enhancement
Nutritional quality
enhancement
Nitrogen Use
Efficiency (NUE)
Water Use Efficiency
(WUE),
Climate resilient
genotypes
Drought and Salinity
tolerance,
Heat and Cold
tolerance
Second Generation Traits
Insect /Pest
Resistance
Herbicide Tolerance
Virus Resistance
Insect Resistance
+Herbicide tolerance
Disease
Tolerance/Resistance
Cytoplasmic Male
Sterility
First Generation Traits

6. MODERN GENETIC TECHNOLOGIES AS NEW TOOLS FOR
CROP IMPROVEMENT
• Challenge of investments in
new platforms and
technologies and the dis-
incentive to deploy needed
significant investments
• Challenges in regulation of
crops bred by new Plant
Breeding techniques (as
new technologies vary
widely in terms of the
technologies deployed and
their impact on heritable
changes in the plant
genome)
Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) enabled
Marker Assisted Selection (MAS) and
Genomic selection (GS)
Genetic engineering (RNAi)
Genome editing (Site specific
mutagenesis with nucleases)
New Plant Breeding Techniques
(Cisgenesis/Intragenesis, Reverse breeding etc)
CHALLENGES WITH THESE
NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN
INDIAN CONTEXT

7. IMPACT OF GENOME SEQUENCING:
RESEARCH AREAS ENABLED BY TOMATO REFERENCE GENOME AND THE
PRIMARY OUTCOMES
Research areas Outcomes Specific examples
Assembly guidance and as
benchmarks for other genomes
Genome and transcriptome assembly
Gene prediction
Tomato 150 genomes Project,
SOL-100 project
Gene annotation Gene location, structure, and function
RNaseq annotation
sulfite reductase (SiR) gene; location of
alcohol dehydrogenase involved in fruit
ripening
Epigenetics and expression Genomic methylation miRNA and
transcript identification,
Tissue specific expression, Gene and
networks prediction, Protein
expression
SUN, OFP, GABBY transcription factor
expression analysis; prediction of regulatory
elements for genes involved in tocopherol
synthesis.
Phenotype to genotype Trait-specific marker development
Gene mapping and expression
QTL analysis SNP location, linking
with gene function
Markers for Terminating Flower (TMF), a
gene involved in flowering,
Physical locations of SNPs on the SolCAP
tomato array
Gene families Gene family prediction
Genome distribution
Phylogenetic analysis
Database framework
Identification of Receptor-like Kinases
(RLKs); Phylogenies for Ethylene Response
Factor (ERF) and ERECTA genes, involved in
plant architecture
Comparative genomics Genome polymorphism
Candidate gene prediction
Resequencing
Gene and sequence conservation
Comparative mapping
Orthologs mapping
Mapping S.pimpinellifolium reads to ‘Heinz
1706’ to calculate SNPs
Ref: Menda et al; 2013. Plant Biotechnology, 30: 243-256

8. INDIAN BIOTECHNOLOGICAL INTERVENTIONS IN SEEDS
• Biotech seed industry in India began
with the introduction of single gene
product with the introduction of Bt
cotton in 2002.
• Stacked gene products (Boll gaurd II)
were introduced in 2006 to ensure
further effectiveness and avoid
development of resistance by target
pests.
• Over 15 years, Public research &
Indian industry have invested heavily
on development of traits addressing
biotic and abiotic stresses as well as
nutritional quality improvement and
yield enhancement
Yield
Enhancement
Nutritional quality
enhancement
Nitrogen Use
Efficiency (NUE)
Water Use
Efficiency (WUE),
Climate resilient
genotypes
Drought and
Salinity tolerance,
Heat and Cold
tolerance
Second Generation
Traits
Insect /Pest
Resistance
Herbicide
Tolerance
Virus Resistance
Insect Resistance
+Herbicide
tolerance
Disease
Tolerance/Resistan
ce
Cytoplasmic Male
Sterility
First Generation
Traits
However, along with technological development, time to market is
CRITICAL..!!

9. LATE BLIGHT RESISTANT POTATO:
THE LOST OPPORTUNITY!
2005 2009 2012 2015
India
Bangladesh
Indonesia
USA
Transformation
initiated
Transformation
initiated
Transformation
initiated
Transformation
initiated
Event Developed
Event Developed
Event Developed
Event Developed
Product
Deregulated
Safety package
approved
Will be deregulated
soon
At standstill
Along with technological development, time to market is CRITICAL..!!
Simplot (USA) developed GM potatoes by proprietary Innate™ technology using DNA
from related species of potato
Aug 28, 2015: APHIS USDA determines the non- regulated status for late blight
resistance, low-acrylamide potential, reduced black spot bruising, and lowered
reducing sugars for Simplot Innate™ potato

10. MODERN TECHNOLOGIES FOR BIOLOGICAL INPUTS
• Harpin protein signals, Promoter
technology, Rhizobia + plant
signal molecules, Natural
signaling compound
Signal molecules
• Induced Systemic Resistance,
Induced Gene Expression
Triggers Technology (iGET)
New/Multiple mode
of action
• Combinational strains, Biostacked
products, Bioactive compounds,
Combination of biological and
chemical products
Combinational
product
• Encapsulation Technologies,
Storage stable formulation
Improving shelf life
NEW TECHNIQUES
NEW APPLICATIONS
Seed Treatment: Catalytic Seed
treatment
Seed Coating: Chitosan based
coating: Yield Enhancing Agent
Slow release technology
Novel delivery mechanism
Foliar spray

11. WAY FORWARD FOR AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY
Public private
partnership (PPP)
Promoting pooling of
resources for result oriented
research through effective PPP
Promoting cross-fertilization
of knowledge and capabilities
can drive new innovative
business models and attract
investment
Capacity building
On various aspects of
biological input validation
and deregulation
Building capacity of
national level safety
assessment of labs
Infrastructure
improvement and
quality compliance
Existing units should be
accredited
Testing laboratories need to
be developed as per GLP
standards and accedition
secured
Effective
communication
All stakeholders on modern
biotechnology can be an
effective tool for increasing
agricultural productivity, and
thereby economic growth
Help to make informed
decisions
Educate the end users
through public and private
sector initiatives
Successful innovation needs right policies, infrastructure and market structure..!!
Communication of the fundamental societal need for adapted
genotypes, developed by plant breeding, but based on the
power of a genomics and a systems biology approach

12. AGRO Nanotechnology

13. NANOTECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS IN AGRICULTURE
Nanotechnology encompasses the production, characterization and application
of materials with dimensions measured at nanometer scale (10-9), typically less
than 100 nm.
•Enhanced properties exhibited by nano sized particles and materials enable
widespread potential applications
•Increased focus on agricultural input use efficiency
•Focus on reducing impact to the environment and human health
•Improvements in manufacturing processes - e.g. avoiding volatile organic
solvents
NANOTECHNOLOGY:
DRIVERS FOR NANOTECHNOLOGY IN AGRICULTURE

14. Agricultural input efficiency
• Nanofertilizers for efficient use and slow release of nutrients. Ex. Nano -5 (Uno Fortune Inc)
& NanoGro (Agro Nanotechnology Corporation) as plant growth regulators
• Nanopesticides - pesticides encapsulated in nanoparticles for controlled release, nano-
emulsions for greater efficacy Ex. Allosperse® delivery system by Vive Crop Protection,
Nano Revolution 2.0 - an Adjuvant for herbicides from Max Systems LLC
Efficient utilization of natural resources
• Nanomaterials for soil and water conservation. Ex. Geohumus® - a soil enhancer with
water storage capacity; NanoClay from Desert Control Inc.
• Nanosensors for precision agriculture
Improve quality of agriculture produce
• Nanosensors for pathogen and contaminant detection
• Nano-barcodes for identity preservation and tracking
Agricultural waste management
• Production of nano materials from agricultural waste. Ex: CIRCOT (India) has developed
technology for production of nano cellulose from agricultural residues.
POTENTIALAPPLICATIONS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY IN
AGRICULTURE

15. CHALLENGES IN COMMERCIALIZATION AND MARKET
ADOPTION OF NANOTECHNOLOGY BASED PRODUCTS
• Regulatory guidelines are still evolving, no standardized protocols for
toxicity testing and evaluating environmental impact of nanomaterials
• Long gestation periods, cost of equipment etc pose challenge for
sustained funding for nanotechnology research and commercialization
efforts
• Scale of operations in agriculture pose a different set of challenges when
compared to nanotechnology applications in other industries
• Challenges in technology transfer to industry - lack of adequate
infrastructure capabilities for prototyping, scale up, characterization of
nanomaterials, toxicity and safety assessment
• Corporate and venture capitalists investments in nanotechnology in
agriculture is still very nascent.
• Public acceptance risks/ safety concerns on the use of nanotechnology
and nano-products

16. WAY FORWARD AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Regulations: Development of Indian regulations and standards for nanomaterials
or nano-enabled products will help a long way in shaping the nanotechnology
industry in India and attracting investments into this industry
Building scientific capabilities: through creation of interdisciplinary research
units for basic and applied research and investments in human resource
development; International collaborations/ MoUs with global nanotechnology
research institutes
Partnerships: Schemes for public private partnerships having consortia of
companies and public institutions; few such consortia already exist like Genesis
(France), InnoCNT (Germany) and NanoNextNL (the Netherlands). In US, NSF
designated a consortium as the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
(NNIN) comprising of 13 leading public universities
Infrastructure: Industry cluster models/ nanotech parks with facilities for
characterization of nanomaterials, toxicity testing, scale up and manufacturing
should be developed.
Facilitating Technology Transfer: Strengthening of the technology transfer
framework for nano -enabled products/ technologies and enhancing the IP
protection will attract both industry and investors.

17. PROPOSED REGULATORY FRAMEWORK IN INDIA
Source: CKMNT, 2013. Report on Regulatory Framework for Nanotechnology: A global perspective