**Executive Summary**
This document, dated 11 DEC 2023, reports that the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has developed and released 23 crop varieties for cultivation by farmers between 2020 and 2025 using radiation techniques. It also states that the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has developed and released 72 improved crop varieties for cultivation. The new varieties undergo rigorous testing by ICAR/SAU before official release following gazette notification by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAFW).
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Crop Variety Development:**
* DAE developed and released 23 varieties (2020-2025) using radiation techniques.
* BARC has developed and released 72 improved crop varieties to date.
* Varieties include rice, mustard, black gram (urad), sorghum (jowar), groundnut, mung bean, sesamum (til), and banana.
* **Variety Characteristics and Suitability:**
* Varieties are released for different agroclimatic conditions and growing seasons.
* New varieties have traits like increased yield, larger seed size, early maturity, higher nutrient content, resistance to lodging, improved disease resistance, and adaptability to abiotic stresses.
* **Safety and Testing:**
* All varieties are safe for consumption.
* Radiation-induced mutagenesis accelerates natural mutation.
* Only seeds are exposed to radiation; the process does not make seeds radioactive.
* BARC breeding lines undergo ICAR/SAU evaluation for superiority and adaptability.
* Genotypes are evaluated for nutritional-quality parameters.
* **Release and Notification:**
* New mutant line recommended for release based on superiority.
* Crop varieties are officially released for cultivation following ICAR/SAU field trials.
* MoAFW issues gazette notifications for the release of newly developed crop varieties.
**Impact Analysis**
**Stakeholder: Farmers**
**Impact**
Farmers gain access to 23 new, radiation-developed crop varieties and 72 improved crop varieties for cultivation, offering potential benefits such as increased yield, better adaptability, and improved nutritional content.
**Action Required**
Farmers should become informed about the new varieties suitable for their agroclimatic conditions and growing seasons.
**Stakeholder: Consumers**
**Impact**
Consumers are ensured that the varieties released are absolutely safe for consumption.
**Action Required**
No specific action required.
**Stakeholder: ICAR/SAU**
**Impact**
ICAR and SAU are responsible for thorough evaluation to test the new BARC varieties for superiority and adaptability.
**Action Required**
Conduct multi-location and adaptive trials in actual fields, and release their results.
**Stakeholder: Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAFW)**
**Impact**
MoAFW issues gazette notifications for the release of newly developed crop varieties.
**Action Required**
Continue the official gazette notification of the released crop varieties.
Key Entities Referenced
Department of Atomic Energy (DAE): Developed and released crop varieties using radiation techniques.
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR): Evaluates BARC breeding lines/mutants and recommends releases through varietal identification committees.
State Agricultural University (SAU): Collaborates with ICAR in evaluation and recommendation processes.
Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAFW): Issues gazette notifications for the release of newly developed crop varieties.
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC): Developed and released improved crop varieties for cultivation.
Department of Atomic Energy
PARLIAMENT QUESTION: DEVELOPMENT OF
CROP VARIETIES USING RADIATION
TECHNOLOGY
प्रव तथ: 11 DEC 2025 4:53PM by PIB Delhi
In the last 5 years (i.e. from 2020-2025), by employing radiation techniques, Department of Atomic
Energy (DAE) has developed and released a total of 23 varieties for cultivation by farmers. These include
(a) 7 rice varieties (b) 5 mustard varieties (c) 3 black gram (urad) varieties (d) 3 sorghum (jowar) varieties
(e) 2 groundnut varieties (f) one mung bean variety (g) one sesamum (til) variety and (h) one banana
variety. Till date Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has developed and released 72 improved crop
varieties for cultivation.
The new varieties are released for different agroclimatic conditions of various states and different growing
seasons (rainy, post-rainy and summer). In addition to these specific suitability and adaptability, these new
varieties have key desirable traits like increased yield, larger seed size, seed dormancy, early maturity,
higher nutrient content, resistance to lodging, improved disease resistance and wider adaptability to abiotic
stresses. These characteristics of the newly developed crop varieties distinguish them from the earlier
varieties.
All varieties are absolutely safe for consumption. Radiation based mutagenesis only accelerates the natural
process of mutation induction. It may be noted that only seeds are exposed to radiation for inducing
mutations in their DNA. This process does not make the seeds radioactive, and particularly, radiation-
induced mutagenesis has been safely used for the last 8-9 decades worldwide to improve crop varieties.
The newly developed BARC breeding lines or mutants are thoroughly evaluated in the Indian Council of
Agricultural Research (ICAR) / State Agricultural University (SAU) evaluation system to test their
superiority and adaptability over the existing local, zonal and national check varieties in station, multi-
location and adaptive trials in the field of actual farmers. The highest-performing genotypes are also
evaluated for their nutritional-quality parameters such as oil content, carbohydrate content, protein and fat
content etc. After this rigorous testing, based on its superiority (over check varieties), the newly developed
mutant line is recommended for release by the varietal identification committees of ICAR/SAU.
All these crop varieties are officially released for cultivation by farmers following successful field trials
and evaluations conducted by ICAR or SAUs at multiple locations. In this regard, gazette notifications for
release of newly developed crop varieties have been issued by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers
Welfare (MoAFW).
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