An Upgraded 3,000-Year-Old Pea Could Ease India’s Inflation Problem
Modi has yet to take a stance on genetically modified food.
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On a campus in southern India, Kiran Sharma and his team of biologists are perfecting a recipe that may solve the nation’s inflation woes.
Sharma for six years has been testing a new variety of pigeon pea, a 3,000-year-old indigenous crop used to make dal, a staple of the diet in India. By adding a gene to the seed’s DNA, he hopes to make it pest-proof, boost output by 30 percent and help reduce dependence on imports in a country that’s both the world’s biggest producer and consumer of dry legumes, also known as pulses.