Two varieties of rice – ‘DRR Dhan 100 (Kamala)’ and ‘Pusa DST Rice 1’, developed by two ICAR And its institutes are the first genome-edited varieties of the world, and promises to be a game-changer. sustainable agriculture,Scientists say that these two varieties, when cultivated on 5 million hectares, can produce an additional paddy 4.5 million tonnes and save a total of 7,500 million cubic meters of irrigation water. And, in addition to a yield of 20%-30%, these climate-flexible varieties can reduce methane emissions by 20%, claiming scientists.This can lead a long way towards solving one of the biggest problems in rice cultivation, a head for about 800 million Indians: its resource-taking. Each kilo traditional rice is required, an average of 2,500 liters of water, and its cultivation consumes more than 50% of the irrigation water available for the country’s agricultural sector.Genome editing enables scientists to make targeted changes in the original genes of living organisms, creating new and desirable symptoms without introducing foreign DNA. This involves adding, removing or modifying DNA sequences at specific locations in the genome. This technique contains applications in various fields, including drug, agriculture and basic research.Because Rice is such a resource-gazler, the National Rice Research Institute (NRRI) of ICAR, which scientifically calculated the amount of water required to produce 1 kg of rice, said that a major effect of climate change would appear as water stress, and that Rice cultivation The most likely to be affected.In a research paper on water management for rice-production systems, ICAR-NRRI said, “In the next two decades, there is a need to produce about 25% more than 10% -15% less share of water.”Genome allows the development of editing Drought-tolerant rice In which water requirement is less.The ICAR (Indian Council of Agriculture Research) started a genome -editing research project in Rice in 2018 and two widely cultivated mega rice varieties – ‘Samba Mazuri (BPT5204)’ and ‘MTO1010’ and ‘Cottondora Sannalu’ ‘ – chose their qualities through technical intervention.Scientists extended these rice varieties without compromising their existing powers with better stress tolerance, better yield and climate adaptability as they developed two new genome-edited varieties.Genome-edited varieties, however, are suitable only for states/UTs for which parents varieties are recommended: Tamil Nadu, Karnakaka, Puducherry, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Maharashtra, Madaya Pradesh, Benghal, Jakh, Burn, JakhalICAR is now reaching intellectual property rights, before the newly developed genome-edited varieties are made available to farmers. Seeds for commercial farming are expected to reach farmers within two years.A GM – Alliance for free India – GM – A network of organizations and individuals advocating India -free India – has demanded that the government immediately withdraw both Genome-edged rice strands And bring them under the scope of rigorous regulation. They claim that in addition to damaging humans in two varieties and endangering the country’s seed sovereignty, they cause irreversible damage to the environment.Since there is no foreign DNA in the genome-edited line, it traditionally makes it comparable to the varieties of the breed.Two major approaches – site -directed Nuclease 1 (SDN1) and site -directed Nuclease 2 (SDN2) – genetically produce edited organisms that are considered “naturally or traditionally unmarried”. For example, they are free from strict bio-security rules under Rule 7-11 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.The ICAR institutional Bi-Safety Committee (IBC) approved the lines, and by the review committee on genetic manipulation (RCGM) on 31 May, 2023 for classification under India’s comfortable regulatory framework for SDN1 and SDN2 genome edits.Genome-Adated Rice and Joint Director (Research) chief developer Vishwanathan Chinsami said that plants with genome-adited seed varieties do not contain ‘outsider’ (foreign) DNA contrary to genetically modified crops.They also removed health fear with genes-edited rice varieties, stating that the genome-edited variety is equal to a mutant variety developed by a traditional approach.“Therefore, this is not a health or environmental concern,” he said.
