India develops world's first genome-edited rice varieties to boost yields by 30%

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has developed the world's first genome-edited improved varieties of rice to boost yields by 20-30%, conserve water and reduce emission of methane--- a potent greenhouse gas.

- BY S VENKAT NARAYAN OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Releasing the two genome-edited varieties - 'DRR Dhan 100 (Kamala)' and 'Pusa DST Rice 1,' Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday said these two climateresilient and high yielding varieties will ensure a 'Second Green Revolution' in the country.

(The First Green Revolution refers to a period of major transformation in agriculture that began in the 1960s, primarily in developing countries like India, Mexico and the Philippines. It involved the widespread adoption of new technologies to significantly increase food production, especially of wheat and rice.)

The development of genome-edited varieties of rice is good news: Every second human being on the planet is a rice-eater. India is the world’s second largest rice-producing country after China. Last year, India produced 138 million metric tons of milled rice, cultivated over an area of about 48 million hectares, with an average yield of 4.32 tons per hectare.