Centre plans developing genome-edited pulses varieties under Aatmanirbharta mission

“Develop high-yielding, short-duration, hybrid, genome edited, climate resilient and pest-resistant varieties… The new varieties including genome editing and hybrid would be included under the mission,” states the guidelines.

“Under the Mission, efforts will be directed towards developing high-yielding varieties, alongside short-term and hybrid varieties of Tur to enhance productivity. Focus will also be placed on breeding climate-resilient and pest-resistant varieties to address emerging challenges. To ensure widespread adoption, trials will be conducted across major pulse-growing states, and further research will support the development and promotion of genome-edited varieties for sustainable pulse cultivation,” noted the guidelines circulated on October 18.

The guidelines also provide an “Indicative Target varieties to be released by ICAR during the Mission”, which shows that the ministry has planned to develop and release 6 genome edited varieties of the three pulses (two each for tur, urad and masoor) during 2028 & 2029, and 9 genome-edited varieties (three each for tur, urad and masoor) during 2030 & 2031.

Dedicated funds have been earmarked for development of new pulses varieties including genome-edited in the total allocation of the mission, said an Agriculture Ministry official.

The ministry will financially support the research bodies for development of genome-edited varieties, the official added.

Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 11, the Mission will be implemented over a six-year period, from 2025-26 to 2030-31, with a financial outlay of Rs 11,440 crore. It aims to increase the total production of pulses in the country by 45 per cent– from 242 lakh metric tonnes in 2023-24 to 350 lakh metric tonnes in 2030-31. In the same period, it also aims at increasing the area under pulses by 13 per cent — from 275 lakh hectare to 310 lakh hectare, and improving the average yield by 28 per cent —from 881 kg/hectare to 1130 kg/hectare.

The Ministry’s plans to develop and release of genome-edited varieties under its pulses mission is significant amid questions surrounding two genome-edited varieties–Pusa DST-1 and DRR Dhan 100 (Kamala) —developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). These varieties were released by Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on May 4, this year. On October 30, Coalition for a GM-Free India, a civil society organisation, alleged that the ICAR has “rigged and hyped” the test data of these two genome-edited rice varieties to “manufacture false claims of success”, and demanded a moratorium on genome-edited crop releases until credible biosafety regulations and independent oversight mechanisms are in place. The ICAR, however, has rejected allegations made by the Coalition for a GM-Free India and termed them as “baseless and motivated by an anti-development agenda that undermines the achievements of Indian scientists.” “ICAR has already provided detailed, point-wise responses to every allegation made, along with repeated clarifications to various individuals and organizations, including the Coalition for a GM-Free India,” the ICAR said in a statement.

Indicative Target varieties to be released by ICAR during the Mission

(Source: Operational Guidelines of the Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses)