Viruses, bacteria, fungi and environmental pressure destroy millions of crops each year, reducing the agriculture sector’s productivity and diminishing farmers’ incomes. Biotechnology allows for the development of crops resistant to both biotic and abiotic stresses and increases farmers’ abilities to secure a better livelihood. In India, where more than two-thirds of the workforce is in agriculture, the development and introduction of stress-resistant crops is an essential component to decreasing poverty and helping the country’ agriculture sector realize its potential.

USAID’s Agriculture Biotechnology Support Project (ASPP-II) helps improve India’s agriculture productivity. A consortium that supports farmers, scientists, regulators, extension workers and the general public, ASBP-II works toward the development and introduction of bio-engineered products specifically designed to address India’s unique agricultural challenges. Products include:

• Eggplant crops resistant to fruit and shoot borers
• Fungi and blight resistant potatoes
• Drought and salt tolerant rice
• Groundnuts resistant to the tobacco steak virus

ABSP-II also builds local scientific and management expertise to improve the application and introduction of new agricultural technologies.