The story thus far: Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan just lately introduced that India has turn out to be the primary nation on the planet to develop rice varieties utilizing genome modifying expertise. The new seeds can be accessible for farmers after the required clearances inside six months and large-scale seed manufacturing will most likely happen throughout the subsequent three crop seasons.
What are the brand new varieties?
A group of researchers from numerous establishments, guided by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), had been behind the event of the 2 varieties — the DRR Dhan 100, also referred to as Kamala, which was developed from a well-liked excessive yielding inexperienced rice Samba Mahsuri, and Pusa DST Rice 1, which was developed from the Maruteru 1010 (MTU1010) selection.
What are its peculiarities?
According to the ICAR, the rise in meals demand, challenges posed by local weather change and rising biotic and abiotic stresses akin to pest assaults and shortage of water, led to the event of excessive yielding, local weather resilient and nutritionally wealthy crop varieties. Kamala has proven superior yield, drought tolerance, excessive nitrogen use effectivity and 20 days earliness over its mother or father selection. It has a median yield of 5.37 tonnes per hectare towards the 4.5 tonnes per hectare of Samba Mahsuri throughout two years and 25 places of testing within the nation. “The earliness trait will help in saving water, fertilizers, and reduced emission of methane,” the ICAR mentioned. The second selection, Pusa DST Rice 1, has a yield of three,508 kilograms per hectare (a capability of 9.66% extra) over the mother or father rice selection, MTU 1010, which has a median yield of three,199 kg per hectare below ‘inland salinity stress’. It additionally confirmed a superiority of 14.66% over the MTU 1010 below alkalinity circumstances, and a 30.4% yield benefit below coastal salinity stress.
What was the expertise used?
According to Joint Director (Research), Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Viswanathan. C, scientists have used Site-Directed Nuclease 1 and Site-Directed Nuclease 2 (SDN-1 and SDN-2) genome modifying methods to develop the seeds. Though this system was used to develop totally different crops since 2001, akin to tomatoes, a fish selection in Japan and a soybean selection within the U.S., making a rice selection has been accomplished for the primary time. In 2020, the primary peer-reviewed analysis paper on Pusa DST Rice 1 was printed, which acquired cited in additional than 300 papers since then. The paper on Kamala is within the stage of publication. “The international research community has approved both the varieties,” Dr. Viswanathan mentioned.
Are they GM crops?
Dr. Viswanathan says that for the reason that genome modifying expertise SDN-3 will not be concerned on this course of, they don’t seem to be genetically modified (GM) crops. In the SDN-1 method, scientists make a reduce and the restore is finished robotically whereas in SDN-2, scientists give steerage to the cell to do the restore and the cell copies it. In SDN-3, nevertheless, scientists introduce a international gene from different varieties and combine it into the improved varieties. This course of is taken into account as genetic modification. In this case, the mutant was developed with none international gene and mutation occurred by way of pure course of. This is a precision mutation method and several other nations have exempted this course of from the rules required for creating GM crops. “No foreign gene is there in these crops, only the native gene is there in the final product,” Dr. Viswanathan mentioned. A group of scientists from numerous governmental establishments had been a part of this analysis. It was examined within the fields below the All India Coordinated Research Project on Rice throughout 2023 and 2024.
What are the objections?
Venugopal Badaravada, who was a farmers’ consultant within the ICAR governing physique mentioned that the ICAR’s genome-edited rice claims are untimely and deceptive. A day after the announcement he mentioned in an announcement that farmers demand accountability, clear knowledge, and applied sciences which might be examined in our fields — not simply polished press releases. He was expelled from the governing physique quickly after this and the ICAR accused Mr. Badaravada of spreading falsehoods concerning the establishment.
The Coalition for a Genetically Modified-Free India, a gaggle of activists who’re preventing a case towards GM crops within the Supreme Court, mentioned the biotech trade and lobbies have resorted to falsely portraying gene modifying as a exact and secure expertise, whereas printed scientific papers present that that is unfaithful. “India’s de-regulation of two kinds of gene editing is outright illegal,” the organisation mentioned. They claimed that gene modifying instruments are proprietary applied sciences below Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) possession and have a direct bearing on the seed sovereignty of the nation’s farming group. “The Government of India has to reveal the situation with regard to IPRs on the released varieties transparently, immediately. The Government of India is compromising on farmers’ seed sovereignty and our food sovereignty by bringing in technologies entangled in IPR issues,” they mentioned.
Published – May 15, 2025 08:30 am IST
