![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.sathguru.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/book-release-300x203.jpg\")
\nEconomic and Environmental Benefits and Costs of Transgenic Crops: Ex-Ante Assessment, published by the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) with support from the Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II (ABSPII) was released on February 13, 2008 at an event held on the campus of TNAU, Coimbatore<\/p>\n
The book was released by Dr. Susan A. Henry, Dean, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, and George Deikun, Mission Director of USAID \u2013 New Delhi received the first copy.<\/p>\n
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded ABSPII is a global consortium led by Cornell University. ABSPII focuses on the safe and effective development and commercialization of bio-engineered crops as a complement to traditional and organic agricultural approaches. The project helps boost food security, economic growth, nutrition and environmental quality in East and West Africa, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh and the Philippines. In India and Bangladesh, the project is managed by Sathguru Management Consultants, the Associate of Cornell in India.<\/p>\n
In his address at the book release, Prof. Ramaswamy, Vice Chancellor of TNAU, said that the aim of ABSPII was to \u201cstrengthen public research capacity in delivering economic and environment benefits to resource constrained farmers through the development of genetically modified (GM) crops, for which alternative solutions are less feasible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ABSPII aims to strengthen the public research capacity in delivering economic and environment benefits to resource constrained farmers through the development of genetically modified crops, for which alternate solutions are less feasible. Fruit and shoot borer resistant eggplant (Brinjal), virus resistant groundnut, late blight resistant potato and drought and salinity tolerant rice are some of the traits that are currently supported by ABSPII for product validation and adoption by resource constrained farmers. The unique public \u2013 private partnership championed by ABSPII provides an opportunity for patent pooling by the public and private sectors for mutual advantage. The access to technology for resource constrained farmers is provided by the public research institutions through royalty free technology transfer and non-profit sale of seeds that would help farmers to access seeds at affordable cost for public varieties that are widely adopted by farmers.<\/p>\n
The book presents the results of a series of studies undertaken over the past four years to assess potential economic impacts of transgenic insect resistant (Bt) eggplant, drought and salt-tolerant (DST) rice, tobacco streak resistant groundnut and sunflower, late blight resistant potato and pod borer resistant chickpea in India and Bangladesh. For GM varieties still under development and not commercially approved, it is important to study the potential economic impact that could result from their adoption (ex ante studies). Ex ante studies have a strong modeling component. Sensitivity analysis of the main parameters is always fundamental to the correct interpretation of the results. The book summarizes the projected level and distribution costs and benefits associated with these products in South Asia.<\/p>\n
The research studies published in the book were undertaken by an eminent panel of Economists drawn from USA, Europe and South Asia. The book is edited by an eminent editorial board comprising George Norton of Virginia Tech University, USA, Prof. C. Ramasamy and Prof. K. N. Selvaraj of TNAU and Mr. K. Vijayaraghavan of Cornell – Sathguru.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Recent trends in the global food industry have resulted in a demand for professionals with awareness and expertise in ground breaking trends in the area of food processing, value addition and marketing complemented by international exposure and global perspectives. To this end, the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Coimbatore, a leader in agricultural education in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-development"],"yoast_head":"\n