Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

‘Transgenic rice will hit fields soon’

Thiruvananthapuram: Indian scientists are developing varieties of transgenic rice tolerant to water stress conditions, Ajay Parida, executive director, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), has said.

Field trials of the rice variety that needs little water for cultivation were progressing at Kalpakkam, he told delegates at a plenary session on Biotechnology at the ongoing 97th Indian Science Congress here on Wednesday.

Dr. Parida said the MSSRF had developed other transgenic varieties of rice that were salt resistant and drought tolerant.

These varieties, impregnated with mangrove genes, were developed under the anticipatory research programme of the foundation, he said.

He said efforts were on to develop a new variety of rice with fortified iron content to address micro nutrient deficiency. The development of the rice with ferritin gene was in the regulatory stage.

Other transgenic varieties with heavy metal tolerance and accumulation characters were also in the pipeline.

These crop varieties could help in phyto remediation of soil contaminated with heavy metals like arsenic or cadmium.

Dr. Parida said the MSSRF had taken defensive patents on all the varieties under development.

Responding to questions, he said field trials had demonstrated a 40 per cent increase in yield for saline-resistant transgenic rice. Biotechnology breeding methods in India were properly regulated, he said.

Head of the department of biotechnology, University of Kerala, G.M. Nair, who chaired the session, said the development of transgenic varieties that could withstand various kinds of adversity would make a sustainable green revolution possible in India.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Training for drivers
Special Economic Zone status for Ambalappuzha Infopark
Accident: inquiry by Chief Secretary
Applications invited for safety awards
Aid sought for traders
Assistance for universities
Thrust on health-care facilities
DYFI meet begins tomorrow
LDF State panel meet today
SBT facility for funds transfer
GATS will create dualism in education: Ekbal
‘Global warming can alter monsoon pattern’
Bus strike: Cabinet panel to hold talks
IT awards for schools announced
No space race between ISRO, NASA, says Madhavan Nair
Students told to set high goals
Students throng science congress venue
Remand prisoners fight inside bus
Concern over entry of foreign varsities
‘Transgenic rice will hit fields soon’
Chennai, the next venue

Copyright © 2010, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu