Gene-Edited (Ged) Rice Varieties

Gene-Edited (Ged) Rice Varieties: Recently, a group of leading agricultural scientists from across India expressed serious concerns over the Union Government’s decision to release gene-edited (GEd) rice varieties, calling the move “premature” and potentially harmful to farmers, biodiversity, and seed sovereignty.

• Released Varieties: DRR Rice 100 (Kamala): Developed by ICAR–Indian Institute of Rice Research, Hyderabad; based on Sambha Masuri (BPT-5204).

o Pusa DST Rice 1: Developed by ICAR–Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Delhi; based on Cotton Dora Sannalu (MTU 1010).

• Key Concerns: Uses CRISPR-Cas9, a foreign-origin genome editing technology that poses risks of off-target mutations, potentially affecting crop traits and food safety.

o Possible contamination of indigenous rice germplasm, threatening India’s agro-biodiversity and could harm India’s $1.2 billion organic rice export market.