Capitalizing the Potential of Private Sector in Strengthening Agri-Biotech R&D and Commercialization in India^§

The paper has examined the emerging trends in growth and structure of agri-biotechnology product and innovation market in terms of institutional diversity, research orientation and capacities. It has also discussed industry perspective of incentives and constraints in commercialization of agri-biotech R&D. The study has revealed that though agri-biotech R&D industry has shown buoyancy in response to the increasing market-oriented production systems, still there is scope to utilize their potential for enhancing availability of quality seeds/planting materials/inputs, for the challenging agro-climatic conditions. Recognizing pervasive market failure and inertia in agri-biotech R&D industry, the study has advocated a leadership role taken by the public sector in addressing them, with the objective of establishing a fully functional and integrated R&D chain. This demands enhanced public investments and reorientation of public research agenda to generate not only unique public goods but also address research gaps, not much of private interests.