India becomes first country to approve yield-boosting gene edited rice

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday [April 4, 2025] unveiled India’s first genome-edited rice varieties, DRR Dhan 100 (Kamala) and Pusa DST Rice 1, developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). These varieties promise to increase rice yields by 20-30%, offer superior drought tolerance, high nitrogen-utilisation efficiency, reduce water consumption and lower greenhouse gas emissions from rice cultivation.

The newly launched genome-edited rice varieties are the first of their kind in the world and are expected to help achieve the target of boosting yields while reducing production costs, said Chouhan. “I am sure that these varieties will play a leading role in heralding the second green revolution in the country,” he added.

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According to the ICAR, cultivating these rice varieties on approximately 5 million hectares can yield an additional 4.5 million tonnes of paddy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% (32,000 tonnes).

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