Prime Minister released 109 high yielding, climate resilient and biofortified varieties of crops

Posted 12 Aug 2024

2 min read

These crops have been developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and release of new varieties of crops is the example of a "lab to land" programme.

ICAR has been running crop-improvement programme to develop new crop varieties and hybrids with wider adaptability and higher yield.
Crop-improvement process uses different strategies such as
- Genomics-assisted selection
- Phenomics (systematic measurement and analysis of qualitative and quantitative traits)
- Conventional breeding or Biotechnology-based approaches like genetic engineering and genome editing.

Need of Crop Improvement

Managing Impact of Climate Change: Climate resilient seeds can yield good crop even in adverse weather (heat waves, droughts, etc.). E.g. Bt cotton
- Climate resilient crops will reduce crop losses due to diseases and pests attacks.
Food Security: Agricultural yields are projected to drop by 16% by 2030 (World Economic Forum).
Nutritional Security: Government seeks to promote biofortified crops by linking them with the programmes like Mid-Day Meal (PM Poshan Scheme), etc., to make India free from malnutrition.
- Also, these are affordable as biofortified varieties crop does not involve any additional cost on preparing the enriched food grains. E.g. vitamin-A rich maize grains.
Raising Farmers Income: High-yielding and adaptable crop varieties contribute to higher incomes.

About Biofortification

It is the process of improving the nutritional quality of food crops. For example, iron and zinc rich wheat grains
It differs from conventional fortification as it aims to increase nutrient levels in crops during plant growth rather than through manual means during processing.