From GM to GET: India’s Agricultural Transformation

The history of gene modification has developed over time, as genome editing in India is a representation of the challenges that are faced by trying to consider agricultural biotechnology, as well as the potential that it can offer. Although GM crops, like Bt-cotton, were limited in their spread due to regulatory factors and concerns over the dangers of genetically altering the environment, genome editing is more accurate, has fewer ethical debates, and stronger policy support.

Indian Agricultural Biotechnology Route is characterised by a complicated combination of scientific breakthroughs, regulatory frameworks and socio-political policies. The first stage of gene engineering, such as Bt cotton, has shown that transgenic crops have the potential to improve their production and reduce the application of pesticides. However, despite this single triumph, the use of GM crops in India was very low because of the fear of biosafety, environmental hazards, public resistance and government adaptability.Genome editing (GE) has been a relatively recent development in India, and it has presented a new chapter in the agricultural path of the country in recent years. Among other things, GE methods (like CRISPR-Cas) are fine-tuned and directed to make edits, which require no foreign genetic material necessarily (reducing many concerns about GM usage), making it easier to access the entire spectrum of potential applications of gene editing. The difference has resulted in increased support for policies and acceptance by society. Geared towards changing governmental regulations, Indian research institutions and universities are actively developing GE crops that will meet local needs, drought tolerance, disease resistance, and nutritional enhancement, which will position GE as a more promising opportunity to boost the strength of food security, climate resiliency, and empower farmers through local innovation.

India's agricultural transformation is a journey from the Green Revolution to the potential Gene Revolution and the embrace of modern Genetic Engineering Technologies (GET).

Understanding the Shift from GM Crops to Gene-Edited Technologies

India’s shift from GM crops to gene-edited technologies marks a move toward safer, faster, and more precise innovations, aiming to boost productivity, sustainability, and resilience in the agricultural sector.The shift from GM crops to gene-edited technologies represents a move toward more precise and faster crop improvement methods. While traditional GM technology involves inserting foreign DNA from another species to introduce new traits, gene editing (GE) technologies like CRISPR allow for targeted changes to a plant's existing DNA without necessarily introducing foreign genetic material.

Early Phase

The evolution of gene modification in India started in the late 1990s, and this coincides with both the ambition of international research and a restraint in policies in the country. With the introduction of Bt cotton in 2002, a turning point was achieved, but the large trend of GM crops continued to be debated.

Bt Cotton
The first commercially approved genetically modified crop that was developed is Bt cotton, which resists the bollworm infestation. It had been widely adopted, and in less than 20 years, Bt cotton had nearly covered over 95 percent of cotton land in India. The first deadlock to be hit in GM technology was that farmers could reduce the usage of pesticides, and have increased their yields, hence showcasing the GM technology in tackling the agronomic challenges.

Regulation and Policy restrictions
Even though Bt cotton was successful in India, the regulatory environment was limiting. The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) took a moderate position; it restricted approvals on food crops, including Bt brinjal and GM mustard. The issues of biosafety, environmental hazards, and the health of consumers defined policy reluctance. This regulatory bottleneck did not allow India to add other GM technology beyond cotton.

Socio-political Debate and Public Resistance
The perception of the people was a determinant in stopping GM growth. The civil society groups, environmentalists and farmer unions expressed worries about how corporations own seeds, ecological imbalance, and the health impacts in the long term. These arguments established a polarising country in scientific development where a socio-political struggle eclipsed scientific elements. The absence of agreement among the policymakers, the scientists and the people also made the mainstreaming of GM crops more delayed.

Lost Prospects in Food Security
The low-level uptake of GM crops in India ensured that any possible accomplishment of GM food on staples like pest-resistant brinjal, drought-resistant rice and GM-enriched mustard was not reached. Whereas the United States and Brazil globalised GM technology to various crops, the approach used by India was conservative, which had confined its agricultural biotechnology to cotton. This was a missed chance where the clash between innovation and regulation was seen when GM was in its infancy in India.

Shift towards Genome Editing

Agricultural biotechnology in India has gradually moved away from the historically controversial field of gene modification to the more promising field of genome editing. The underlying reason for this change is improvements in scientific accuracy, flexible regulation, and indigenous innovation.

Comparison of GM and GE
Through the traditional genome-engineering methods of GM crops, transgenic insertion of foreign DNA has been one of the main methodologies which have elicited a lot of ecological and ethical arguments. By comparison, modern genome-editing (GE) systems, including CRISPR-Cas systems, make it easier to make targeted changes in the endogenous genetic repertoire of a crop, avoiding the necessity of introducing exogenous genetic content. Such methodological perfection has consequently softened the opposition of people and increased the acceptability of GE technologies in the framework of Indian agriculture.

Research and Technological Developments
Indian scientists have taken a central position that is driving GE ahead. There are institutions like the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the IndianAgricultural Research Institute (IARI), which are actively involved in the preparation of stress-resilient and nutritionally enhanced cultivars. The latest innovation is the production of a simpler genome-editing instrument using TnpB proteins, developed by ICAR, which is patented, providing alternatives to foreign CRISPR tools. These domestic innovations not only reduce the need to use international licensing systems but also strengthen Indian scientific independence in breeding of crops.

Regulatory Development and Policy Support
The Indian government has been more facilitative to GE as compared to GM. In the year 2022, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) stated that it will fund Genome-editing projects with the focus set on food security and climate resilience. In addition to that, the regulatory relaxations now have the effect of exempting some GE techniques from the rigorous biosafety authorisations that GM crops have obtained. This policy development is an indicator that GE has the potential to respond to the major agricultural needs, such as drought, insect pressures, and malnutrition.

Prospects and Challenges in the Future
Genome editing is an opportunity to improve food security, increase farmer earnings, and be in line with the trends of biotechnology globally. GE rice lines already have advanced varietal trials, meaning that they are ready to be released commercially. However, there are still difficulties, including how to overcome the conflict between the natural farming movements and biotechnological interventions. It will be important to make sure that there is clear regulation, build public trust, and ensure that GE technologies are accessed equally so that the adoption becomes sustainable.

Indigenous Research efforts

The growth of genome editing in India is supported by the localised research and breeding programs, which are indicative of scientific independence, cross-institutionalism, and policy support aimed at alleviating local farming issues.

Institutional Leadership
Genome-editing has been the pioneer in principal institutions such as the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) and various state agricultural universities. Some of their aims include the formation of drought, salinity, and pest-tolerant plants and an increase in nutritional quality. These organisations will ensure that development in technology benefits the individual farmers in each region directly instead of relying on external imports, as a result of pre-emptively anticipating locally specific exigencies.

Breakthroughs
Indian scientists have developed a simplified genome-editing device based on the TnpB proteins that is a cheaper substitute for the traditional CRISPR-Cas devices. This innovation is patented by ICAR, which minimizes the dependence on foreign technologies and licensing costs, and democratizes access to genome editing. These innovations highlight the growing competency in India in terms of machinery to manufacture locally grown biotechnological solutions to suit the domestic agronomic horizon.

Climate resilience
The breeding programmes have included the genome editing of the staple cultivars such as rice, wheat, and pulses. Scientists are working to produce rice with higher drought and pathogen tolerance, and at the same time, they are producing wheat lines with better nutritional value. The breeding interventions are essential to maintain food security during climate change, whereby an irregular pattern of precipitation and increased temperatures threaten conventional crop production.

PPP model
There is an increase in the strength of indigenous research by developing synergies between civic research institutions and the private seed companies. Such partnerships help to more quickly impact the breakthroughs in labs into agronomic and financially viable cultivars. The creation of a resilient ecosystem around the idea of genome-edited crops in India requires the incorporation of the experiences of the common people into the functions of the business sector, creating a balance between innovation and cost-effectiveness.

Future Prospects

Genome editing in India has gained more prominence in its coverage by vibrant policy institutions and foresight. Comprised of regulatory frameworks and supportive institutional efforts, compared to the historically conservative approach towards the use of genetically modified (GM) crops, genome editing is enjoying liberal support.

Government Initiatives and Relaxations of Regulations
In 2022, the Indian government formally registered an exception to the biosafety approval procedures instituted by coercive biosafety approval systems, making unclassifiable exceptions of type 1 and 2 site-directed nucleases (SDN-1 /SDN-2) in the regulations. This authority de-escalation was an ultimate shift in policy, which sped the translation of research results and reduced bottlenecks in the procedures. At the same time, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) launched a series of investment programs aimed at triggering genome-editing projects that would contribute to food security and climate protection.

Institutional and Policy Alignment
The institutional support of the policy is also enhanced by policy endorsement. Active efforts to create genome-edited crop varieties have been taken by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), allied with state agricultural universities, where the Ministry of Agriculture has solidly placed biotechnology as a major cornerstone of future food systems. This kind of harmonisation between research institutions and policies would ensure that research development is integrated into and supports nationwide agricultural policies.

Food Security and Climate Resilience
Genome editing has a lot of potential in curbing acute agricultural issues in India. Genetically modified crops with improved abilities to withstand drought, pests, and increase nutritional value are already under field trials. As an example, genome-edited rice lines are currently being tested for resistance to climatic stress factors, and wheat crops are being manipulated to add extra micronutrient levels. These technological innovations may be transformational towards ensuring the protection of food security within the rising population of the country.

Issues and Ethical Implications
Despite the strong support of the policies, a number of challenges remain. The biotechnological interventions still remain entangled with the negative perception of biotechnology in the view of the people; therefore, clear communication mechanisms are needed to promote trust. The ethical concerns regarding the conservation of biodiversity, ownership of seeds, and access to them fairly should be considered. Finding a balance between new technology and long-term sustainability in agronomic processes will be critical in order to see that genome editing enhances, but does not reduce, the agricultural biodiversity in India.

Conclusion

The principal shift of the traditional way of gene alteration to the new age of genome editing in India signifies a metamorphic transformation in the field of agricultural biotechnology. Although the initial stage of GM crops was limited due to regulatory suspicion and strong opposition, genome editing has proven to be an alternative, which is more specific, acceptable, and policy-grounded. Through the work of indigenous research institutions, as well as government programs, new innovations are being pushed to solve issues related to climate resilience, nutritional security, and the welfare of the farmers. Scientific development and the facilitating policies make genome editing one of the foundations of the shock-absorbing agriculture policy in the future of India, as it provides long-term answers to the urgent issues and strengthens the determination of India to achieve easier access to food security and technological independence.