Agricultural production and productivity in developing and developed countries are facing unprecedented challenges. The continued rapid growth in population implies an increasing demand for food from shrinking land resources. In addition, a vast majority of farming livelihoods worldwide are threatened due to impact of climate change and as a result, huge cultivated areas are subjected to shifting biotic and abiotic stress conditions. The incidence of pest attacks in food crops has increased tremendously and excessive use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides in many countries have resulted in deterioration of soil quality and high contamination of water.
The knowledge generated through research and development partnerships in biotechnological research in crops such as wheat and pulses have enormous potential in advancing solutions for disease resistant and drought tolerant varieties, commonly known as ‘climate-ready crops’, in tropical and sub tropical regions. Improved crop varieties together with new agricultural tools will enhance the adaptive capacities of communities in the face of vulnerability due to climate change. The need of the hour is to strengthen joint collaborative efforts to develop economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally sound advanced agricultural tools such as bio-pesticides and bio-fertilisers.
Through the Indo Swiss Collaboration in Biotechnology (ISCB), started in 1974, SDC and the India Department of Biotechnology (DBT) have supported Indian and Swiss partners in joint research & development in the area of agricultural and environmental biotechnology, aimed at developing products and capacities which are of social, economic and ecological relevance. Apart from yielding successful prototype products and mutual capacity development, the ISCB programme has served the Government of India as a model for the initiation and implementation of development oriented research partnerships.
The rationale for the next phase of ISCB is mainly rooted in the need to reap the benefits of the programme, thus pursuing common interests of Switzerland and India in the frame of the Partnership Programme of SDC in India (PPI). The overall goal of the ISCB programme is to promote sustainable rural development and livelihoods in India, through establishing and strengthening joint research partnerships and capacities between Switzerland and India in the area of biotechnology, which are of social, economic and ecological relevance.
The Programme Management Unit is located at EPFL, Lausanne; EPFL contributes to the project with in kind contributions (including office space, financial services and infrastructure). In terms of management, one key aspect of the new phase will be the creation of a Technology Advancement Unit in India, which will allow to take forward the process of technology transfer of advanced products and processes, involving the private sector. The organisational, scientific, methodological and technical development competencies acquired in the frame of the programme will also be capitalised to generate benefits for partners in third countries through South-South cooperation.
The programme permits a strong and mutually reinforcing link with a dynamic segment of the Indian Government system and has helped generate enormous goodwill towards key Swiss actors involved. As evidence of their commitment towards this project, the Department of Biotechnology has substantially increased its annual contribution to the ISCB programme, to reach a level of cost-sharing of 45% of the total ISCB costs versus 55% for SDC.
