Union Minister Jitendra Singh said Thursday that the start-up movement has gained momentum in the country, leading to the creation of more than 80,000 start-ups, up from about 350 before 2014.
Singh said the startup movement is gaining momentum in India with the backing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
It has led to the creation of more than 80,000 startups, up from around 350 before 2014, he said in a talk after opening the National Genome Editing and Training Center (NGETC) in Mohali, Punjab.
The Minister of State for Science, Technology and Earth Sciences (independent) also launched the 2023 four-day international conference on food and nutrition security.
Mr Singh said agritech start-ups have exclusive potential in India and all stakeholders in the country need to be more aware of the concept if it is to be successful. rice field.
The minister said that while the startup movement is gaining momentum in India, this dramatic leap in the number of startups is expected to be a significant step forward as the sector is still not fully explored and leveraged by Indian entrepreneurs. He said agriculture and biotechnology must be equally and proportionately reflected. and youth.
He advocated raising awareness about lucrative livelihoods and income streams in agritech entrepreneurship.
Launched today, the National Genome Editing & Training Center (NGETC) is a one-roof, state-of-the-art facility that serves as a national platform to meet regional needs for adapting various genome editing methods, including CRISPR-Cas-mediated genomes. am. deformation.
“We also empower young researchers by providing them with training and guidance on its know-how and its application to crops. In the current climate scenario, better nutrition and tolerance to changing environmental conditions are essential. It is an important task to improve crops for
“Genome editing could be a promising technology that Indian research could adapt to provide desirable, bespoke traits in crops. We can extend genome-editing tools to a huge number of crops: maize and millet,” he said.
The International Conference on Food and Nutrition Security (iFANS-2023) is a collaboration between the National Institute of Agro-Food and Biotechnology (NABI), the Center for Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (CIAB), the National Institute of Plant Biotechnology (NIPB), and international organizations. jointly held by Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) at his NABI, Mohali.
According to an official statement, the four-day conference will brainstorm how genome editing can enhance national food and nutrition security as the country’s climate changes.
Multiple sessions are planned with many speakers from 15 countries. They share their experiences through their contributions to plant science in cutting-edge areas of research.
The conference will bring new challenges and new ideas, and also act as a stage to promote new research collaborations between laboratories in different countries.
It envisions bringing together international experts and young researchers in the fields of agriculture, food, nutritional biotechnology and genome editing.
The theme of the conference is appropriate to inspire young students and researchers, given the fact that food and nutrition security is a global demand.
Advanced biotech tools such as genome editing using CRISPR-Cas9 have the potential to achieve these goals in a sustainable manner.
In particular, NABI, under the Biotechnology sector, is a mandated national laboratory focused on research activities at the interface of agriculture, food and nutritional biotechnology.
Genome editing is an important tool to induce site-specific genetic mutations/changes so that important crop traits can be developed.
These mutations may mimic natural-like mutations and may be specific targets within the genome.
(Only the headlines and photos in this report may have been modified by Business Standard staff. The rest of the content is auto-generated from syndicated feeds.)
