University of Vaasa - Vaasan yliopisto

In figure two we can see the expenditure of ICRISAT by sector. Enhancing NARS
(National Agricultural Research Systems) is a tangible post, as is sutainable
production. A post that has been growing recently, though, is the Germplasm
improvement.
(ICRISAT 2008) Figure 2. ICRISAT expenditure by sector, 2006.
Research and education are activities that are unfortunately under-funded by most
market mechanisms. ICRISAT too, turning to the private market for additional
funding, has certainly been influenced by this, turning their focus increasingly in the
GMO direction. This helps them keep their budget sustainable, certainly, but at what
price? Their mission mandate specifically says, however, that their aim is “to
improve people’s livelihoods in crop-livestock-tree production systems in the semiarid
tropics through integrated genetic and natural resource management“. And it
must be agreed that they are certainly doing just that. They are not hiding what they
do.
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