Food production with biotechnology is a necessity

Dr. Mohammad Mahdi Magdasian, deputy of the biotechnology development staff of the vice president’s office for science and technology and knowledge-based economy, gave an interview on the topic of reducing food imports using biotechnology with the “Rosneh” program of Diavogo radio.

Maqdisian said: About 150 million tons of food products are consumed annually in our country, of which 120 million tons are domestically produced; But the important point here is that we need to import some production inputs such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides and livestock inputs to produce this amount of food in the country.

Stating that our waste in these inputs is a high and heavy number, he added: Food security will be achieved when all people have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, healthy and nutritious food at all times.

The Deputy of the Biotechnology Development Headquarters of the Vice-Chancellor of Science and Technology stated in the radio interview: If we are not going to produce the food products needed by our country with biotechnology and continue with the same traditional method, we will definitely be doomed to failure.

Saying that we have very successful models such as recombinant medicines in the field of knowledge, and these models have also shown themselves in the field of agriculture, Magdasian said: If we act only by using biotechnology in the field of agriculture, we will reduce the amount of food imports by 3 billion dollars annually.

He added: More than 200,000 tons of sheep meat is imported into the country every year, and this is despite the fact that the technology of multiple reproduction of animals exists in our country and the government supports it, and this is where the people themselves should demand this issue.

The Deputy of the Biotechnology Development Headquarters of the Science and Technology Vice-Chancellor stated: The government of our country should know that in order to reach the path of development, especially in the field of food security, so that people do not worry about the price of meat, it should pay special attention to the field of biotechnology.