Indian researchers have made a historic breakthrough in agricultural technology by creating the world’s first genome-edited rice varieties. Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched the two climate-resilient varieties—’ DRR Dhan 100 (Kamala)’ and ‘Pusa DST Rice 1’—that offer 25% higher yield and use less water for cultivation. Created using 21st-century genome editing technology, this achievement places India at the vanguard of sustainable agriculture.
India Pioneers Genome Editing in Rice
The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, and the Indian Rice Research Institute, Hyderabad, created these new varieties through the application of advanced genome editing tools. These new varieties are climate-resilient and designed to resist environmental stress while providing higher productivity.
In doing so, India became the first nation in the world to create Genome-Edited (GE) rice varieties. These rice varieties have substantial advantages in productivity, climate tolerance, and water conservation.
Not Genetically Modified, but Genome-Edited
An important point of distinction is that these varieties do not have any foreign DNA, making them different from genetically modified (GM) plants. Therefore, issues related to GM foods are not relevant in this case.
Scientists employed sophisticated genome editing techniques like CRISPR-Cas9 to modify the native genes of the rice for desirable traits without adding foreign genetic content.
Increasing Yield, Preserving Environment
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan greeted the success as a “classic example” of integrating increased production of crops with the protection of the environment.
“These new varieties will not only increase production but also bear good returns in terms of the environment. It will conserve water and greenhouse gas emissions and, consequently, environmental pressure will come down,” he added.
He added further, “In the future, food security is required to be ensured, production needs to be raised, feeding India and the world, and turning India into the food basket of the world.”
India’s success with exports of rice also came into the spotlight in celebration of the same: “We are delighted that due to our initiatives, Rs 48,000 crore worth of Basmati rice gets exported each year.” Nonetheless, the newly released genome-edited ones are non-basmati rice.
Climate-Smart Agriculture Receives a Boost
These genome-edited varieties have been given proper bio-safety clearances under India’s eased regulations, according to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Their cultivation on five million hectares is likely to give an additional 4.5 million tons of paddy. In addition, greenhouse gas emissions will be lowered by 20%, or 32,000 tons.
These crops need a shorter cultivation period and less water. Water conserved from only three cycles of irrigation totals 7,500 million cubic meters, which can be utilized for growing other crops.
A Golden Day for Agricultural Research
Dr. M.L. Jat, the Department of Agricultural Research Secretary and Director General ICAR, defined this as a “golden day for India’s agricultural research.” He reiterated that demand-driven research was important and highlighted getting input from farmers for customizing innovation to suit them.
“This philosophy will help assure that the result of the research is customized to address farmers’ needs and rightly deliver the proper solutions,” he added.
Revolutionary Achievement with International Acclaim
“It is a revolutionary breakthrough,” Dr. C. Viswanathan, a senior scientist at IARI, said, beaming with pride, “Indian scientists created global history.” In another reaction, Professor Rajeev Varshney, Director at Murdoch University in Australia, complimented India on its focus on biotechnology.
“I congratulate India on its commitment towards harnessing cutting-edge biotechnological tools to develop crop resilience, productivity, and sustainability against the challenges caused by climate change and resource scarcity with an ultimate goal to support its farmers,” he said to NDTV.
Government Initiative and Future Strategy with Genome-Edited Rice
As part of the 2023–24 budget, the Indian government has assigned ₹500 crore exclusively for genome editing research in agriculture. ICAR is currently taking this research to other crops such as oilseeds and pulses under a larger initiative that focuses on livestock, fisheries, and microbial varieties as well.
Genome editing by Site Directed Nuclease technologies SDN1 and SDN2 is safe. The technologies generate genetic alterations indistinguishable from natural ones, thereby exempting them from rigorous bio-safety rules under Rules 7–11 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
From Traditional Varieties to Modern Miracles
ICAR initiated this effort in 2018 by identifying two of the most cultivated rice varieties—Samba Mahsuri (BPT5204) and MTU1010 (Cottondora Sannalu). Cultivated on more than nine million hectares in India, these varieties had poor climate resilience and yield.
Samba Mahsuri has a good grain and high market price but is susceptible to pests, disease, and abiotic stress. MTU1010 has quicker maturity and fits the Rabi season in the southern region of India, but fails under drought conditions and saline soil.
Through genome editing, scientists improved both varieties’ stress tolerance, yield, and maintained their native grain quality. Institutional Biosafety Committees and the Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation cleared them for release under eased genome editing regulations.
Dr. Satendra K. Mangrauthia, breeder of rice at the Indian Institute of Rice Research, Hyderabad, reported, “They have the same grain and cooking quality which makes Samba Mahsuri a consumer favorite.”
Vision for Viksit Bharat
Minister Chouhan proposed the “Minus 5 and Plus 10” formula, where rice cultivation would be cut by five million hectares but output would be raised by ten million tons. This change would release land for pulses and oilseed crops, enhancing India’s agricultural diversity and self-reliance.
India’s successful application of genome-editing in rice is a historic leap towards Viksit Bharat—an India that is food secure, climate resilient, and internationally competitive in agricultural innovation.
