KARNAL: A Workshop entitled “Genetically modified (GM) Crops and their derivatives for the livestock sector” was conducted at ICAR- National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal in collaboration with Biotechnology Consortium India Ltd (BCIL), New Delhi.
While inaugurating the workshop, Director and Vice Chancellor of the Institute Dheer Singh said that feed occupies a significant position in the productivity as well as profitability of dairy enterprise as it alone shares as high as 65 to 70% of total dairy expense.
He further said as feed resources are decreasing new technological interventions should be initiated on feed and feeding strategies to maintain the sustainability of the dairy sector.
He also added that feeds offered to the dairy animals should be safe to make healthy livestock so as to produce safe food for human consumption. He also emphasized on long term studies before introduction of GM origin feed ingredients in the Indian dairy sector.
He reiterated his commitment to undertake research and development on GM origin feed ingredients for the benefits of the dairy sector if proposal comes from BCIL.
Nitin Tyagi, Principal Scientist & Coordinator of the workshop welcomed all the delegates. Ani Bency Jacob, Assistant Commissioner, National Livestock Mission, Ministry of Fisheries, of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India, New Delhi talked on “Issues, availability and challenges regarding animal feed requirement in India” and highlighted the ongoing schemes of Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying.
Vibha Ahuja, Chief General Manager, BCIL, New Delhi delivered a talk on “GM crops and derivatives in animal feed on the basis of safety and nutritional aspect”.
She pointed out the significance of GM derived feeds or feed ingredients and emphasized on its immense potential to overcome the shortage of animal feed ingredients in the country, where a greater fraction of people’s livelihood is dependent on the dairy sector.
Sanjeev Kalia, Senior Manager, Government Affairs and Advocacy Executive, BASF India Limited delivered a lecture on “Enhancing crop productivity of feed grains -its status and potential intervention”.
Amit Sachdev, Regional Consultant, South Asia, U.S. Grains Council throws light on “Global feed availability and role of GM crops”. He focused on current application of GM crops in distilleries and the wastes of distilleries.
Ashish Kumar Singh, Joint Director (Academic) and Dr. Rajan Sharma, Joint Director (Research) participated in the panel discussion and expressed their views on the usages of GM crop origin feed ingredients.
Goutam Mondal, Principal Scientist & Coordinator of Workshop gave vote of thanks to the delegates and participants.
Source: Times of india
