Not only will paddy production suffer but there may also be a major reduction in pulses and oilseeds, they warn.

Vivek Mishra

Farmers and traders have expressed concern about the Centre’s intention to reduce the area on which paddy, the main Kharif crop, is sown by 5 million hectares (mha).

The Centre wants to promote pulses and oilseeds through the move. However, critics say that if farmers are not given safe seeds, support and training in modern farming, then not only will paddy production suffer but there may also be a major reduction in pulses and oilseeds.

Shankar Thakkar of Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) told Down To Earth that if farmers are not trained first, rice availability may decrease and prices may rise.

“Indian farmers need to be taught and adopt modern methods of farming. The soil of the fields should be tested so that the farmer knows in advance as to which crop will give the highest yield.”

The Centre, meanwhile, plans to increase the yield of paddy in a limited area with the help of two new varieties of paddy developed with genome editing technology.

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan recently launched two new varieties of paddy developed using genome editing technology, DRR Dhan 100 (Kamala) and Pusa DST Rice 1.

“In the 2024-25 crop year (July-June), the area under paddy cultivation will decrease to 47.73 mha, from the current 47.83 mha. But production is estimated to increase from 127.86 million tonnes to 135.84 million tonnes. This increase in production will be achieved mainly from paddy varieties developed using the new genome editing technology,” said Chouhan.

The government has also claimed that the two climate-friendly varieties will not only help increase the yield of paddy but will also help in saving water.

During the launch, Chouhan also introduced the formula of ‘minus 5 and plus 10’. This new formula means that if the paddy area is reduced by 5 mha, the production has to be increased by more than 10 million tonnes in the same area. Also, the area that will be reduced from paddy cultivation will be used for pulses and oilseeds.

According to officials of the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, the new varieties have been developed using genome editing technology (CRISPR-Cas). In this, subtle changes are made in the original genes of the plants and no external genes are added. The varieties developed using SDN1 and SDN2 methods are exempt from the bio-security rules of the Government of India and are not classified as genetically modified crops.

However, contrary to this claim, scientists have said that concerns still remain about the biosafety of gene editing varieties, especially because the CRISPR-Cas technology has not been fully optimised yet.

This technique uses the enzyme ‘Cas’, which goes to a specific part of a gene and cuts and changes the DNA sequence. Scientists believe that this can lead to uncontrolled or unwanted genetic disorders.

Thakkar added: “Farmers should also be provided information about the latest variety of seeds. Yields can be increased by these steps. If this is not done, then the rice crop will be reduced in the process of increasing the production of pulses and oilseeds.”

Published Date: May 8, 2025