Transgenic crops: priorities and strategies for India

Abstract

Development of plant transformation technology is impacting crop improvement options in unprecedented ways. While the new technology promises greater efficiency and precision to plant breeding, to be effective, its application needs to be carefully planned on a case-by-case basis. Transgenic crops, in this context, have the additional dimension of biosafety consideration and hence their development and deployment demands greater care. Here we discuss the various factors that need to be considered while prioritizing crops and traits for transgenic improvement and show how intelligent use of some of the strategies can help alleviate biosafety concerns associated with commercialization of transgenics.