The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is undertaking the genome-editing of about 40 crop varieties across 34 research institutes nationwide. The ambitious initiative spans both field and horticultural crops — including pulses, wheat, banana, tomato, cotton, soybean and rice — signalling a major push to modernise Indian agriculture through precision breeding.

ICAR is an autonomous organisation under the Department of Agricultural Research and Education, within the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. It coordinates agricultural research, education and extension through a vast network of national institutes, research centres and agricultural universities, making it the nerve centre of India’s farm-science ecosystem.

Technically, genome editing makes targeted changes in a plant’s own DNA. The programme relies on the SDN-1 and SDN-2 categories, which crucially do not introduce foreign genes into the plant genome — distinguishing them from conventional GM crops. In 2022, the Department of Biotechnology issued Standard Operating Procedures for the regulatory review of such plants, and transgene-free edited crops are exempted under this framework, easing their path to the field.

ICAR has already released India’s first genome-edited rice varieties: DRR Dhan 100 (Kamala) and Pusa DST Rice 1. These are engineered for higher yield, drought tolerance, lower irrigation needs and reduced greenhouse-gas emissions — with reported yield gains of up to 25% and GHG reductions of about 20%. Given that rice is a major staple and a heavy water-and-emissions crop, these gains carry outsized economic and environmental significance.

A striking technological leap is the development of Plant OpenCRISPR-1 (POC1), an AI-designed genome-editing platform validated at the ICAR-Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack. The fusion of artificial intelligence with gene-editing tools positions India at the frontier of agri-biotech, potentially reducing dependence on foreign proprietary editing systems and building indigenous strategic capability in a critical technology.

The wider project — covering 24 field crops and 17 horticultural crops — is explicitly tied to India’s goal of food security by 2047 through improved varieties, higher yields and better soil health. For aspirants, it is a rich case study linking science and technology, agriculture, climate resilience, employment in the rural economy, and food-security policy.

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