Source: Mint
Context:
The Government of India plans to establish five modern seed breeding facilities at ICAR institutes to accelerate the development of high-yielding, disease-resistant, and climate-resilient crop varieties. This will expand the number of such facilities from two to seven by FY26.
What is Seed Breeding Technology?
- A process where seeds are bred under controlled environments (temperature, light, humidity, and day length) to fast-track crop development.
- Impact: Enables multiple crop generations per year (up to four), compared to 1–2 under natural conditions.
- Breeding Cycle Reduction: Shortened from 6–10 years to 2–3 years, helping farmers access improved seeds faster.
Proposed Centres
The new facilities will be developed at:
- CICR, Nagpur – Cotton
- IIRR, Hyderabad – Rice
- IARI, New Delhi – Multiple crops
- IIAB, Ranchi – Agricultural biotechnology
- IIMR, Ludhiana – Maize
(Existing: Indian Institute of Mustard Re
