Improving rice yield with an additional gene
- August 21, 2022
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Improving rice yield with an additional gene
Subject :Science and Technology
Section: Biotechnology
Context:
- The Green Revolution of the 1960s brought about a marked improvement in the yield of agricultural crops such as rice and wheat.
OsDREB1C gene
- New Research report points out that giving a Chinese rice variety a second copy of one of its own genes has boosted its yield by up to 40%.
- When a second copy of a single gene (called OsDREB1C) is added to rice, it improves photosynthesis and nitrogen use, speeds up flowering and absorbing nitrogen more efficiently — offering larger and more abundant grains.
Gene modulation
- A key point is that the researchers have added the same gene again, and not any foreign one.
- This is best described as genetic modulation. It is not a genetic modification (GM) and neither is the result a transgenic plant, carrying elements from another donor.
GM crop Regulation in India
- India has exempted crops with certain kinds of genetic modifications from the regulations previously imposed on the commercialisation of all genetically modified crops
- For example, BT cotton involves the transfer of the gene from the bacterium called Bacillusthurigiensis (BT) to be transferred to normal cotton.
- India’s Agriculture Ministry has pointed out in 2019 that they have allowed transfer of this foreign gene to normal cotton, produce the BT cotton, which is then manufactured and sold both in India and abroad.
Rice
- Rice is a staple food for most of the population in India.
- It is a kharif crop which requires high temperature, (above 25°C) and high humidity with annual rainfall above 100 cm.
- In the areas of less rainfall, it is grown with the help of irrigation.
- In southern states and West Bengal, the climatic conditions allow the cultivation of two or three crops of rice in an agricultural year.
- In West Bengal farmers grow three crops of rice called ‘aus’, ‘aman’ and ‘boro’.
- About one-fourth of the total cropped area in India is under rice cultivation.
- Leading producer states: West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab.
- High Yielding States: Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal and Kerala.
- India is the second-largest producer of rice after China.
- India is the world’s largest exporter of rice. It exported 18.75 million metric tons to over 150 countries during the year 2021-22, thereby earning $6.11 billion.
Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee
- The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) functions under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
- It is responsible for the appraisal of activities involving large-scale use of hazardous microorganisms and recombinants in research and industrial production from the environmental angle.
- The committee is also responsible for the appraisal of proposals relating to the release of genetically engineered (GE) organisms and products into the environment including experimental field trials.
- GEAC is chaired by the Special Secretary/Additional Secretary of MoEF&CC and co-chaired by a representative from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).