Stubble burning going to be a history: claims Scientists who developed a wheat variety that can be sown under rice stubble

Stubble burning going to be history: Scientists developed a wheat variety that can be  sown under rice stubble retained conditions

BY Vijay Thakur, Special Representative, The Statesman, vijaythakurx@gmail.com

In a major breakthrough that could bring down the practice of stubble burning of paddy crop in North India, Indian Agriculture scientists have developed a wheat variety that could be sown under rice stubble-retained conditions.

The new wheat variety RHTL 14 and RHTL 18, would not only help in reducing the practice of paddy stubble burning but would also use less water. The new variety could allow deeper sowing of wheat seeds to avail advantage of residual moisture in the soil under dry environments, said a senior officer of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

According to the Ministry, the wheat seeds could be sown in the paddy stubble with deep sowing and there is no need to cut or burn stubble for sowing wheat after harvesting paddy. The scientists at the Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology, have mapped two alternative dwarfing genes Rht14 and Rht18 in wheat. These genes are associated with better seedling vigour and longer coleoptiles (sheath protecting the young shoot tip).

In India, over 23 million metric tonnes of leftover rice residues are annually burnt by farmers to get rid of the straw and to prepare their fields for sowing wheat. The burning of stubble causes a major pollution problem in the entire North Indian region. However, once the new seeds are accepted, there would be no need to burn stubble for sowing wheat, the Ministry said.

The team of scientists led by Dr. Ravindra Patil of the ARI have mapped the dwarfing genes on chromosome 6A in durum wheat. They had also developed a DNA-based marker for a better selection of these genes in wheat breeding lines. The DNA-based markers will help wheat breeders to precisely select wheat lines carrying these alternative dwarfing genes from a massive pool of wheat breeding lines, the officer said.

The presently available semi-dwarf wheat varieties, which were explored during the Green Revolution, carry conventional Rht1 dwarfing alleles and produce optimum yields under high-fertility irrigated conditions.

But it was not adapted for deeper sowing conditions in dry environments due to shorter coleoptiles. And low early vigour often results into reduced seedling emergence. Moreover, crop stands of Rht1 wheat also remain poor where previous crop residues pose a barrier for seedling emergence due to the short coleoptiles.

Vijay Thakur, The Statesman.