Important Achievements in Plant Breeding

Important Achievements in Plant Breeding

Plant breeding has played a crucial role in enhancing agricultural productivity, improving crop quality, and developing resilient varieties to tackle various challenges. India has made significant achievements in plant breeding across several crops. Here are some important achievements in plant breeding in India, along with examples:

Green Revolution Varieties: During the Green Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s, India successfully developed high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice. The development of semi-dwarf wheat varieties like Kalyan Sona, Sonalika, and Sharbati Sonora, along with high-yielding rice varieties like IR8, helped transform India into a self-sufficient food nation.

IR8 Rice: Developed by Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, IR8 was one of the first high-yielding rice varieties. It played a pivotal role in transforming India from a food-deficit nation to self-sufficiency in rice production.

Kalyan Sona Wheat: Developed by Dr. M.L. Sharma, Kalyan Sona is a high-yielding dwarf wheat variety. It contributed significantly to increasing wheat production and played a vital role in the Green Revolution's success.

Bt Cotton:  The introduction of genetically modified Bt cotton has revolutionized cotton cultivation in India, leading to increased yield and reduced pesticide use. The example of Bt cotton varieties is: Bollgard Bt Cotton: Developed by Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (India) Pvt. Ltd., Bollgard is a genetically modified cotton variety that incorporates the Bt gene, conferring resistance against bollworm pests. It has helped farmers reduce insecticide sprays and achieve higher cotton yields.

Hybrid Rice: Hybrid rice varieties have contributed to substantial yield improvements in India. Pusa RH10, developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), was one of the first hybrid rice varieties released in India. It exhibited significantly higher yield potential compared to traditional rice varieties. Pusa Hybrid 1121 Rice: It is a high-yielding basmati rice hybrid developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI). It possesses long, slender grains with excellent cooking quality and has gained significant popularity in both domestic and international markets.

Hybrid tomato: Arka Vikas Tomato: Developed by the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Arka Vikas is a hybrid tomato variety with high yield potential and resistance to diseases. It has become popular among farmers due to its improved productivity and market acceptance.

Disease-Resistant Wheat: Wheat is a major staple crop in India, and the development of disease-resistant varieties has been critical in ensuring food security. Wheat varieties like HD 2967 and HD 3086, developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institutes, have resistance to major diseases like rust and have played a significant role in enhancing wheat production.

Drought-Tolerant Chickpea: Chickpea is an important pulse crop in India, and the development of drought-tolerant varieties has been crucial for sustainable production. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and ICAR collaborated to develop varieties like JG 11 and JG 130, which exhibit improved drought tolerance and have contributed to higher chickpea yields.

Salinity-Tolerant Rice: Plant breeders have developed rice varieties that can thrive in salinity-affected areas, where soil salinity poses a challenge to crop growth. Examples include 'CSR 10' and 'CSR 27', which are salt-tolerant rice varieties developed by the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI). These varieties enable farmers to cultivate rice in saline soils and expand agricultural productivity.

Nobilization of Indian Canes: Another noteworthy achievement is nobilization of sugarcane. The Indian canes were of Saccharum barberi origin and were largely grown in North India. They were hardy, but poor in yield and sugar content. The tropical noble canes of Saccharum officinarum origin had thicker stem and higher sugar content, but they performed badly in North India primarily due to low winter temperatures in this region. C.A. Barber, T.S. Venkataraman and others at the Sugarcane Breeding Institute. Coimbatore transferred the thicker stem, higher sugar content and other desirable characters from the noble canes to the Indian canes. This is commonly referred to as nobilization of Indian canes. They also crossed Saccharum spontaneum (vern., kans), a wild species, to transfer disease resistance and other desirable characteristics to the cultivated varieties. Several high yielding varieties with high sugar content and good adaptation to local climate have resulted from this breeding programme. At present, sugarcane breeding all over the world is based on the nobilization technique.

Nutrient-Enriched Crops: Efforts have been made to enhance the nutritional content of crops through breeding. An example of nutrient-enriched crop variety is: Biofortified Wheat (HD 2967): Developed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) and Indian partners, HD 2967 is a biofortified wheat variety. It contains higher levels of zinc and iron, addressing the prevalent micronutrient deficiencies in India.

Hybrid Vegetable Varieties: India has witnessed significant advancements in hybrid vegetable breeding, resulting in improved yields, disease resistance, and market acceptability. For example, Arka Rakshak and Arka Abhay are hybrid tomato varieties developed by the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) that exhibit resistance to major diseases and provide higher yields.

Molecular Breeding: Molecular breeding utilizes molecular biology techniques to achieve plant breeding objectives. Marker- assisted selection (MAS) enables dependable indirect selection for desirable genes using highly reproducible DNA markers. We already have examples of useful crop varieties developed through MAS, eg, bacterial leaf blight resistant rice varieties Improved Pusa Basmati 1 and Improved Samba Mahsuri, submergence tolerant rice variety Swarna Sub-1. and improved protein quality maize hybrid Vivek QPM 9. In addition, genome sequencing initiatives have been quite successful; sequencing of Arabidopsis thaliana genome was completed in 2000, the first draft of rice genome was published in 2002, and the draft sequence of pigeon pea genome was published in October 2011 Intensive efforts are being made to use the tools of genomics, genetic transformation, etc. for identification and confirmation of alleles contributing to the desired traits, and to develop molecular markers for their marker-aided selection. This approach is expected to enhance the efficiency of breeding efforts for improving difficult to select for complex traits. Marker-assisted recurrent selection coupled with off-season crops has permit two to three selection cycles in one year as compared to one selection cycle in two to three years by the conventional approach. The scheme called genomic selection is designed to use markers distributed of the entire genome to effectively select for specific quantitative traits.

Reference: Principles of Plant Breeding (2022) - B D Singh