Exhibits of Science at the International Crop Research Institute For Semi Arid Tropics
The visit to ICRISAT (International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics) was with a purpose to know and understand how research institutes validate their research and popularise it to the public. Since the institute is funded by international organisations and governments the explanation is in the form of a display of semi arid conditions. The approach followed by them was in the form of a publicity campaign to garner goodwill and get more allocation for funds. Though the institute was developed for the semi arid regions it does not reflect any real conditions faced by the people of those regions. The institute reminded me of a corporate boardroom rather than a research institute working for the betterment of very poor farmers. The achievements of the institute cannot be discounted in any way; they have developed new varieties or groundnut and sorghum which have made the lives of farmers a lot easier over the years.
The institutional and donor setup does not allow them to take a oppositional or critical stand when it comes to contentious issues like genetic engineering on crops or genetically modified foods. When questioned about the validity of such research the answer was a very well rehearsed and avoidance filled one expressing and reassuring the audience that there is nothing wrong with genetically modified foods or ever will be. Some other questions about patenting, intellectual property rights and loss of quality in hybrid foods were dealt with in an almost dismissive fashion.