Biotechnological innovation stands at the nexus of harnessing remarkable development with sustainability. For an emerging economy like India, biological research, innovation, entrepreneurship, and scaling will help generate huge prospects with far-reaching consequences in a sustainable way across the landscape. Now, sustainability in using biological resources without rendering them exploitative seems difficult to achieve in the face of climate change. Especially in agronomy, practices need to be revamped from bottom-up strata to envision the bigger picture of sustainable development.

Through science and governmental interventions, we have implemented various technological needs to drive sustainable farming, including testing abiotic factors (soil, water) and the biological elements (plants/animals); however, climate fluctuations remain a more significant threat. Much investment must be poured into research to develop climate-resilient agricultural practices.

For example, as a case study, chemical eradication is not sustainable in climate emergencies like insect infestations, as it likely develops resistance over time. Therefore, research needs to be done on the end of the plant’s genome and on the insect side to create strategies which can be incorporated genetically to develop pest-resistant varieties of plants and sustainably avoid pest infestation. The genetic frontiers can potentially open avenues for such sustainable practices. Many times, analysing genome differences in natural varieties of plants provides us with novel information on how to optimise and develop climate-resilient agronomical practices.

Another essential aspect to introspect and to implement is the concept of ‘Sub-optimality’ and ‘Robustness’. Although the functions in nature that evolved are seemingly complex, the science behind them follows easy and optimal rules for a system to function. If we look at evolution, it works at a suboptimal level so that every stratum of population on this planet becomes efficient in sustaining life without destroying each other. For example, the enzyme RuBiSCo, which catalyses carbon fixation in almost all plants on this planet, is less efficient in terms of productivity yet has been chosen by evolution because of its resilience. Therefore, research should be aimed at robustness rather than efficiency.

Industrial intervention is imperative from research to scaling up and testing in the field. The need for industrial support will help us attain self-reliance in engineering, cater to biotechnological innovations, and end dependency on limited industrial giants.

Social aspects of traditional knowledge are a great way to incorporate them into research. Connecting research laboratories directly with farmers with reasonable incentives can help mitigate field study limitations with practical aspects of farming and engage people in citizen science. This ensures the propagation of science and practices for a sustainable and resilient future.

Ethical aspects of research and its efficacy for sustainable agricultural practices must be propagated through appropriate social media outlets to enforce technological innovations. Therefore, using appropriate measures with different stakeholders will help us achieve climate-resilient farming practices emphasising sustainability.

In the end, it should given priority to develop agricultural practices which are sub-optimal in their nature since efficiency doesn’t create robust systems, but instead fragile ones which can not withstand changing scenarios.

Vishwadeep Mane

University/College name : Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru