UPSC Mains 2019 GS Paper 3 Q16: model answer

When Bt cotton arrived in 2002, India's cotton output roughly doubled within a decade and insecticide spraying against bollworm fell sharply. A decade later, the pink bollworm had become resistant. Both halves of that story matter when we ask how biotechnology can help farmers.

Higher yields and better crops

• GM crops: Bt cotton, and GM mustard DMH-11, approved for environmental release in 2022.
• Genome-edited rice: in May 2025 India released two varieties, DRR Dhan 100 (Kamala) and Pusa DST Rice 1, with higher yields and stress tolerance.
• Marker-assisted breeding: Swarna-Sub1 rice survives two weeks under floodwater.
• Tissue culture gives disease-free banana and sugarcane plants.

Lower costs

• Biofertilisers and biopesticides reduce chemical bills.
• Pest-resistant crops cut spraying and labour.

Lower risk

• Drought, flood and salt-tolerant varieties for climate shocks.
• Disease diagnostics and livestock vaccines prevent losses.

New and better incomes

• Livestock biotech: sex-sorted semen and embryo transfer for higher milk yields.
• Biofortified crops such as zinc wheat and iron pearl millet for nutrition and premium markets.
• Aquaculture: better fish seed and disease control.
• Agri-waste to value: biogas and bio-ethanol from crop residue.

Concerns

• Resistance in pests, as with pink bollworm.
• Seed costs and dependence on companies.
• Biosafety and public trust; regulation through the GEAC, and SDN-1 and SDN-2 gene editing exempt from GM rules since 2022.
• Small farmers may lack access to credit and extension.
• Court challenges: the Supreme Court gave a split verdict on GM mustard in 2024 and asked for a national GM policy.

Way forward

• Public-sector research for small farmers, transparent regulation, and integration with extension services and FPOs.

Biotechnology can lift farm incomes, provided the seed reaches the small farmer and the science stays ahead of the pest.