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Relevance: GS-III (Biotechnology & Agriculture) | Source: The Hindu
The Context: Rice and wheat cover over half of India’s farmland. However, the older varieties from the Green Revolution rely heavily on abundant water and chemical fertilizers. Facing climate change and soil damage today, India is turning to modern genetic tools—recently becoming the first country to let farmers grow gene-edited rice.
1. India’s Gene-Edited Rice Breakthroughs (CRISPR)
Using CRISPR gene-editing technology, Indian scientists have tweaked the plant’s own existing DNA—without adding any foreign genes—to create two standout rice varieties:
- DRR Dhan-100 (Faster & Higher Yield): This variety gets ready for harvest in 130 days instead of the usual 150. By dialling down a specific gene (DRR DNAN-1) to boost grain numbers, it produces nearly 20% more rice while cutting down on water, labour, and fertilizer needs.
- Pusa DST Rice-1 (Salt-Tolerant): Built by ICAR scientists to survive in salty and alkaline soils. By deleting a tiny part of the OsDST gene, the plant grows broader leaves with fewer pores (stomata), giving it a 65% better survival rate and 10–30% higher yields under salt stress.
- Why It Is Safe (Gene Editing vs. GMOs): The final crops contain zero traces of the editing tools and no foreign DNA. This is very different from traditional GMOs—like Argentina’s HB4 Wheat, which inserts a foreign gene from sunflowers to fight drought.
2. Apomixis: The “Self-Cloning” Seed Revolution
- What is Apomixis? Normally, if a farmer saves seeds from a high-yielding hybrid crop and plants them next year, the new plants lose their top quality (“hybrid vigour”). Apomixis tweaks the plant so it bypasses sexual reproduction and essentially clones itself through its seeds.
- Big Relief for Small Farmers: Because the offspring remain exact copies of the parent plant, farmers can save and replant their own hybrid seeds year after year without buying expensive new seeds every season.
3. How Seeds Reach Indian Farmers
- The Seed Pipeline: ICAR labs and state universities first create pure “breeder seeds.” The government-owned National Seeds Corporation (NSC) multiplies these into “foundation seeds,” which are then distributed for farming. While government bodies control 95% of the wheat seed market, private companies dominate hybrid rice seeds.
Practice MCQ
Q. Consider the following statements regarding agricultural biotechnology in India:
- Apomixis is a reproductive mechanism that allows plants to produce seeds without fertilisation, enabling farmers to preserve hybrid vigour across generations.
- Under Indian regulations, SDN-1 and SDN-2 gene-edited crops are treated identically to transgenic GMOs because they introduce foreign DNA from different species.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: (a) 1 only
Hint: Statement 1 is correct; apomixis creates genetically identical seeds (clones), saving small farmers from buying fresh hybrid seeds every year. Statement 2 is incorrect because SDN-1 and SDN-2 techniques do not introduce foreign DNA and were exempted from strict GMO rules by the MoEFCC in 2022.
Hint: Statement 1 is correct; apomixis creates genetically identical seeds (clones), saving small farmers from buying fresh hybrid seeds every year. Statement 2 is incorrect because SDN-1 and SDN-2 techniques do not introduce foreign DNA and were exempted from strict GMO rules by the MoEFCC in 2022.
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