To mitigate the adverse impact of rise in temperature because of climate change on food production, scientists at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in collaboration with several other research institutions has identified about 15,000 selected germplasms of rice and wheat for developing varieties which are tolerant to flood, drought, heat waves and diseases.
Agricultural scientists, as part a Department of Biotechnology (DBT) project to develop improved crop varieties to fight climate change, have sourced rice and wheat genetic resources from a gene bank located at the heart of Delhi, which is managed by the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR). The gene bank has a total collection of more than 4 lakh accessions (a unique identifier given to a protein sequence). “Out of close to 1 lakh accessions of paddy and around 40,000 accessions of wheat, we have marked 15,000 accessions, which have the traits to withstand extreme weather conditions and diseases,” Ashok Kumar Singh, Director, IARI told FE. These accessions represent the wide natural genetic variation across the 15 agro-climatic regions in the country.
After identification of genes, scientists are using marker-assisted backcross breeding technology for developing rice and wheat varieties, which could withstand extreme weather conditions such as drought, floods and heat waves, as well as diseases such as bacterial blast and blight. Through market-assisted technology, it takes three-five years to develop a new variety which previously used to take at least 10 years.
The three varieties of disease resistance Basmati rice developed by IARI — PB 1847, PB 1886 and PB 1885, is through DBT supported projects which will be provided to private sector seeds players for multiplication. An MoU with private seed companies will be entered into shortly. In the case of wheat, varieties to cope with new challenges with climate-changing scenarios. is being developed by NBPGR in coordination with several other institutions.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group II report, ‘Climate impacts, adaptation and vulnerability’, released recently, had stated that rise in temperature would severely hit India’s food production where rice, wheat, pulses and coarse cereal yields could fall almost 9% by 2050.
According to DBT, there is development of 17 varieties of crop plants (rice: 8, wheat: 4 and maize: 2) with enhanced nutritional content, resistance to pathogens and tolerance to abiotic stress has been released.
Of these, six varieties have already reached farmers’ fields after multiplication by private players.
India’s grain output has risen substantially in recent years, taking the country to the league of one of the largest producer of rice, wheat, maize and horticultural crops, thanks to the use of diverse seed varieties, among other things. According to the second advance estimates of food grains production released by the agriculture ministry, India’s output is estimated at a record 316 million tonne.
Except oilseeds and pulses, India is self-sufficient in most agricultural commodities. However, experts say that the rise in temperature could pose huge challenges maintaining India’s food security.
India is a signatory to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, a global agreement in harmony with the Convention on Biological Diversity that aims at guaranteeing food security through the conservation, exchange and sustainable use of the world’s plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.