1. 1 Research Priorities in Food Crops Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi 7 September2011 Swapan K. Datta DDG (Crop Science), ICAR

2. 2 Productivity requirement to meet 2020 demand Note : The increase in pulses and oilseeds assumes that the requirements would be met domestically Source : 2010-11 production from FAO Rice 30% Wheat 35% Pulses 110% Total cereals 30% Oilseeds 240%

3. 3 Breaking the yield barrier and ensuring food security Breaking the yield barrier and ensuring food security 1997 2020 Yield (t ha -1 ) Green revolution rice yield limit NPT yield limit How do we close this gap after NPT limit is reached? Population grow trend 0 5 10 15

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5. 5 Single Cross and QPM Hybrids of Maize Maize production almost doubled Maize has shown fastest growth rate (>4%) Maize production can be doubled Hybrid coverage to be increased (>35%) Biotech GM corn with Bt +Ht ready Globally available, ready for release in India Drought T corn + multiple pyramided genes are in the pipelines

6. 6 1964: Research on hybrid rice started 1970: A wild rice with aborted pollen was identified 1974: First set of hybrids was developed 1976: Hybrid rice released to the farmers ~ 15 mha (53%) under hybrid rice gives 15 mt extra production Historical Development Hybrid Rice in China/India Prof. Yuan Longping (left), Father of Hybrid Rice Other countries are slow in adoption ( India : 1.5 m ha )

7. 7 CA: Mitigate Terminal Heat in Wheat Terminal heat Source: Jat et al (2009)

8. 8 Making rice climate-proof drought submergence salinity heat

9. 9 (2010-11) Production : 18.29 million tons Ca 3 Mt more than last year Target 25 Mt by 2020-25 Transgenic Pod borer Resistant Pulses along with multiple disease resistant + WUE must be targeted and possible Why not to target a budget of 5 Cr to develop a Commissioned project for Pulses (Improvement/Production) Pulses : Present and Future Pulses : Present and Future

10. 10 1 Billion people of world is malnourished while 30% Indian population (mostly women and children) are malnourished : Food + Nutrition Security come together & can easily be utilized with PDS Nutri-Cereals Protein  -carotene enriched potato Insulin promoting rice Canola quality mustard oils Vitamin C food crop High iron rice  -carotene + Vit E /Lysine rice Vitamin E +  -carotene maize Biofortified food crops for India?

11. 11 Need a strong high throughput Molecular Plant Breeding Platform for efficient modern breeding as vertical growth of yield would be required

12. 12 Sequencing and encoding the genes will provide the future designer food crops

13. 13 1. Architecture of the plants 2. Designer Crops 3. End product with energy efficient metabolic pathways 4. Low light Responsive Photosynthesis 5. Biological N 2 Fixation 6. C4 rice, wheat & Potato 9. Health Food (LGI FC/LSFG) 10. Dynamic Crop Calendar

14. 14 A FEW RESEARCHABLE ISSUES 1.Dev of Water/Nitrogen/Phosphorus UEC 2.Designer crops with suitable mechanization 3.Transgenic Crops 1) pulses with pod borer Resistant 3) Wheat with drought/terminal heat stress T 4) Rice with pest/disease/herbicide and abiotic stress Tolerance

15. 15 Quality Seed Improved variety/hybrid High genetic purity High vigour Free from seed-borne pathogens Value-addition Reduced loss during storage Need world class laboratory for seed research and seed certification based on science profiling

16. 16 Possible actions Water management  Promotion of Hybrid Rice/Pigeon pea/Wheat  Multiple stress tolerant rice (biotic and abiotic)  Zero tillage and weed management  Promotion of Biotechnology for PPP  commissioned project implementation  Productive large farms across the country to grow need based crops with local storage capacity

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