Genome editing for crop improvement can accelerate the delivery of better varieties, Director of ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research R.M. Sundaram said.
Speaking at a workshop on “Genome Editing for Crop Improvement: Potential and Policy” organised jointly by Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) and Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL) on Friday, he stated that genome editing technology was relatively inexpensive for implementation and has widespread accessibility in both private and public sector research institutions.
The technology could be used in almost all crop plants for which partial or complete genome sequence was available and was being applied to more than 40 crops across 25 countries, mostly addressing various agronomic important traits like yield improvement, nutritional enhancement, feed quality, biotic and abiotic stress tolerance in the realm of depleting natural resources and a fast changing climate.
In India, the technology could play a significant role in enhancing production and productivity of pulses and oilseed crops to minimise the dependency on import. India had imported edible oils worth ₹1.17 lakh crore in 2020-21 and more than ₹1 lakh crore during the first nine months of 2021-22. Genome editing needs to be fully exploited for enhancing the productivity of oilseed and pulse crops, and also to improve the protein and oil quality and quantity, Mr. Sundaram said.
Special Commissioner (Agriculture) Hanumanth K. Zendge said there was a need to clear the concerns of farmers before implementing the new technologies in the field. It was essential to adopt improved technologies to ensure the nutritional and food security for growing population by educating and allaying the apprehensions of farmers.
Vice-Chancellor of PJTSAU V. Praveen Rao said that new agricultural technologies must be made available at a mass scale so that farmers’ income could be enhanced. He suggested BCIL to make efforts to incorporate genome technology education in the middle school level curriculum.
Chief General Manager of BCIL Vibha Ahuja explained about the application of genome editing technology in agriculture and other sectors worldwide, and how China and USA had become leaders in utilising the technology.
During the workshop, PJTSAU entered into an MoU with Rasi Seeds, Tamil Nadu, for collaborating in research and development of mutual interest on molecular breeding, bio technological approaches, crop management, nanotechnology and agricultural engineering technologies, to help farmers.
