In May 2025, Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) announced the development of India’s first two genome-Edited (GE)rice varieties namely, ‘DRR Dhan 100 Kamla’ and ‘Pusa DST Rice 1′ at Bharat Ratna C. Subramaniam Auditorium, National Agricultural Science Complex (NASC) in New Delhi (Delhi).
- These new varieties of rice were developed by New Delhi (Delhi)-based Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) using genome-editing technology based on CRISPR-Cas, which makes accurate changes in the genetic material of organism without adding foreign Deoxyribonucleic acid(DNA).
- These newly developed varieties are expected to bring revolutionary changes in terms of higher production, climate adaptability, and water conservation and will be made available to farmers for cultivation within 4 to 5 years.
Key Points:
i.While addressing the event, the Union Agriculture Minister highlighted that it is due to the efforts of the Government of India (GoI) which led to the export of 48,000 crore worth of Basmati Rice annually.
ii.He also introduced the ‘Minus 5 Plus 10’ formula, which means reducing the area of rice cultivation by 5 million hectares (mh) while increasing rice production by 10 Million Tons (MT) in the same area. This will give additional space for the cultivation of pulses and oilseeds.
iii.During the event, the Union Minister honored the scientists who contributed to the research of the two varieties.
- Dr. Satyendra Kumar Mangruthia, Dr. R.M. Sundaram, Dr. R. Abdul Fiyaz, Dr. C.N. Neerja, and Dr. S.V. Sai Prasad were honored for their contribution to the development of DRR Rice 100 (Kamla).
- Dr. Vishwanathan C, Dr. Gopal Krishnan S, Dr. Santosh Kumar, Dr. Shivani Nagar, Dr. Archana Vats, Dr. Soham Ray, Dr. Ashok Kumar Singh and Dr. Pranjal Yadav, were honored for their work on Pusa DST Rice 1.
Background:
i.ICAR started GE research in 2018 in order to enhance two major rice varieties i.e. Samba Mahsuri (BPT5204) and Maruteru 1010 (MTU 1010), under the National Agricultural Science Fund (NASF).
ii.The final result of this research is the two advanced varieties that offer certain benefits like: 19% increase in yield, 20% reduction in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, saving of 7,500 million cubic meters(MCM) of irrigation water and enhanced tolerance to drought, salinity, climate stresses.
iii.The GoI had allocated Rs 500 crore for GE of agricultural crops during the Union Budget for Financial Year 2023-24 (FY24).
About DRR Dhan 100:
i.DRR Dhan 100 (Kamla) was developed by ICAR affiliated institute, Hyderabad (Telangana)-based Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR).
ii.It has been derived from a popular high yielding green rice Samba Mahsuri.
iii.It can mature 15-20 days ahead of its original (approximately 130 days) and yield 25% more, which is about 8 tonnes more per hectare(ha).
- Due to the short harvesting period of this crop, it can help in saving water and fertilizers and reducing methane gas emissions.
iv.It has retained the same grain and cooking quality just like the original variety i.e. Samba Mahsuri.
v.As per ICAR, GE ‘Kamla’ is recommended for use in Andhra Pradesh (AP), Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu (TN), Puducherry, Kerala (Zone VII), Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh (MP) (Zone V), Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh (UP), and West Bengal (WB) (Zone III).
- While, other new variety i.e. ‘Pusa DST Rice 1’ is also recommended for use in most of these states.
About Pusa DST Rice 1:
i.Pusa DST Rice 1 was developed by ICAR affiliated institute, New Delhi (Delhi)-based Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI).
ii.It has been developed from MTU1010, a salinity tension tolerant crop.
iii.This new variety of rice can increase yields by 9.66% to 30.4% in saline and alkaline soils, with the potential for maximum 20% increase in production.
iv.This new variety has claimed to have recorded an average paddy yield of 3.508 tonnes/hectare under inland salinity stress conditions, over 3.199 tonnes of MTU-1010 variety.
About Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR):
Director General (DG)- Dr. Mangi Lal Jat
Headquarters- New Delhi, Delhi
Established- 1929
About Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW):
Union Minister- Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Constituency- Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, MP)
Minister of State (MoS) – Ram Nath Thakur (Rajya Sabha- Bihar); Bhagirath Choudhary (Constituency- Ajmer, Rajasthan)
