Rome, 10 September 2009

M.S. Swaminathan, FRS

UNESCO Chair in Ecotechnology

Chairman, M S Swaminathan Research Foundation

Plant Breeding for an Ever-green Revolution and for

Meeting the Challenge of Feeding a Growing

Population in an Era of Climate Change

2nd World Seed Conference

From Teosinte to Maize

Beginning of the Green Revolution

Tian F. et.al. PNAS;2009;106:9979-9986

Impact of

Selection and

breeding

Daruma

(Japanese semi-dwarf) X

Fultz

(U.S. winter wheat, high yield)

Fultz-Daruma

(semi-dwarf, high yield)

Locals

(adapted to

U.S. Northwest)

X

X Turkey Red

(U.S. winter, high yield)

Norin 10

(semi-dwarf, winter, high yield)

(Dr Gonziro Inazuka in 1935)

Gaines

(semi-dwarf, winter,

U.S. adpted)

X Local Strains

New Wheats

(semi-dwarf, high yield, adaptable,

rust-resistant, fast-maturing,spring)

Genesis of Wheat Revolution

(Land and Forest Saving Agriculture)

Green Revolution Symphony (1968)

o Technology

o Services

o Public Policies

o Farmers’ enthusiasm

Indian farmers achieved as much progress in wheat production in four years (1964–68), as during the preceding 4000 years.

Major Components

Assured and remunerative market is the prime

mover of farmers’ enthusiasm

Need for an Ever-green Revolution

About 80% of food production comes from farmers with

small holdings. For them, Agriculture is the backbone of the

livelihood security system Hence, higher productivity per

units of arable land and irrigation water is essential to

enhance marketable surplus and thereby of cash income.

This should however be achieved without harm to the

ecological foundations essential for sustainable agriculture.

The green revolution should become an ever-green

revolution leading to an enhancement in productivity in

perpetuity without ecological harm

Swaminathan, 1982

From Green to an Ever-green Revolution

Theme for the 50th

Anniversary Meeting of the

Crop Science Society of

America

Green Revolution : Commodity-

centred increase in productivity

Change In plant architecture, and

harvest index

Change in the physiological

rhythm-insensitive to

photoperiodism

Lodging resistance

Evergreen Revolution : increasing

productivity in perpetuity without

associated ecological harm

Organic agriculture : cultivation without

any use of chemical inputs like mineral

fertilizers and chemical pesticides

Green Agriculture : conservation

farming with the help of integrated pest

management, integrated nutrient

supply and integrated natural resource

management

If farm ecology and economics go wrong, nothing else will go right

From Green to an Ever-green Revolution

Pathways

Organic

Farming

1) Soil Health

2) Water Quality

3) Plant Health

5) Animal Health

• Vermiculture

• Bio-fertilisers

• Stem nodulating

green manure

crops

• Bioremediation

• Genetic Resistance

• Biopesticides

• Vaccines

• High quality

feeds and fodder

6) Environment

• Biomonitoring through

Bio-indicators

• Higher Carbon

Sequestration

4) Post-harvest

Technology

• New strains with

improved keeping,

processing and

transport qualities

IFOAM : Genetic Engineering is excluded in organic agriculture

Biotechnology and Organic Agriculture

Photo-insensitive

Mutant of

Sesbania rostrata

Fixes nitrogen both in stem and roots

Conservation Agriculture with Faidherbia albida – Pathway to

Sustainable Maize Production in Central and Southern Africa

Faidherbia is

indigenous in

many African

countries

60 years of research shows on each hectare, mature trees

supply the equivalent of 300kg of complete fertilizer and 250kg

of lime. This can sustain a maize yield of 4 tons/ha

Climate Change: L’Aquilla G 8 Summit (July 2009)

Implications of Agreement to permit rise in Mean Temperature by 2 deg C

Risks rise rapidly with temperature. Once temperature

increase rises about 2 deg C, upto 4 billion people could

be experiencing growing water shortages. Agriculture

could cease to be viable in parts of the world, particularly in

the tropics, and millions more people will be at risk of

hunger. Above 2 deg C, the risk of a disintegration of the

West Antarctic ice sheet rises significantly, as does the

greater danger of ‘tipping points’ for soil carbon release

and the collapse of the amazon rainforest.

Impact of Higher Temperature on Crop Yield

Projections for India

o Increase in temperature by 2 deg C, rice yields decrease

by 0.75 t ha-1

o Increase in winter temperature by 0.5 deg C, wheat

yields decrease by 0.45 t ha-1

o CO2 fertilization effects not to offset the negative impacts

of high temperature

o Climate change over 2010-39 reduces major crop yields

by 4.5 to 9%

o Long-run (2070-99) impacts could be dramatic by

reducing yields by 25% or more in the absence of

adaptation measures

Neglected Crops: Genes for

Coping with Climate Change

o Time-Tested production and income

stability under marginal and high-risk

farming

o Many crops are nutritionally rich to

redress ‘hidden hunger’

o Neglect leading to loss of genetic

diversity and associated traditional

knowledge

o Opportunity to enhance sustainable

income, food and nutritional security

National Academy of Sciences,

Washington D. C. 1989

Genetic Erosion

Medicinal Rice Varieties of Kerala

Kalinga Kalajeera : Product of Participatory Breeding

Lathyrism – a neurological disease of humans and domestic animals

characterized by spastic paralysis. This is attributed to the

neurotoxin beta-oxalyl-L-alpha, beta-diaminopropionic acid (ODAP)

Drought tolerant Lathyrus and Lathyrism

Somaclonal Variation in Lathyrus sativus

Low neuro-

toxin

varieties (-

N-oxalyl

diamino

propionic

acid (ODAP)

Deepwater (floating) rice has

three special adaptations:

i. ability to elongate with

the rise of water levels;

ii. develop nodal tillers and

roots from the upper

nodes in the water

iii. the upward bending of

the terminal part of the

plant called 'kneeing'

that keeps the

reproductive parts

above the water as

flood water subsides.

Rice – Anchor of Food Security in an era of global warming

Facing the challenge of Floods

Rice : Ethylene Response Factors

Snorkel 1 and Snorkel 2

Moto Ashikari, Nature, 20 August 2009

True Potato Seed

Answer to the challenge of producing disease free planting

material as a result of rise in temperature

Sustaining the Potato Revolution

Genetic Shield against Sea Level Rise

Mangrove Forests

Field trial of a transgenic rice strain with

Superoxide dismutase gene from Avicennia marina

The loss of every species and gene limits our

options for the future

Prosopis juliflora has wide

adaptation to water stress

and drought conditions

Used as source of drought

tolerant genesControl 36 days of water

withdrawal

Genetic Shield against adverse changes in precipitation

Drought tolerant genes from Prosopis juliflora

Nucleotide sequences of 1467 ESTs from the cDNA library

of drought tolerant plant Prosopis juliflora have been

deposited in the NCBI EST database.

Control Treated

Potential Drought Tolerant

Geneso Glutathione-s-transferase

o RAB7D

o Ascorbate peroxidase

o Lipid Transfer protein

o Pottasium transporter (HAK1)

o Transcription factors (Myb,

ZFP - Zinc Finger Protein)

o Dehydrin

India Important Commercial crop

40 lakh farmers

Livelihood of 600 lakh people

Raw material for 1800 mills

• 40 lakh Handlooms

• 70 lakh Power looms

Textile Industry contributes

• 4% of gross domestic product

• 14% of the total Industrial product

• 20% of total work force

• 17% share of country’s export earning

• 12% of world textile production

• Employment to 300 lakh people

• Second largest provider of employment

• Export revenue about Rs. 70000/-crore

Cotton & Textile Economy of India

Cotton Progress in India

Bikaneri Nerma (BN-Bt Strain)

First public sector Bt Cotton variety suitable for rainfed farming

Taraori Basmati

Pusa Basmati 1

Pusa 1121

Pusa Basmati 1121 World’s

Longest Cooked Basmati Rice

Transgenic High Iron Rice with Ferritin Gene

from Mangrove

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Transverse section of matured

nontransformed control (a, c) and

transgenic rice grains (b, d), blue

staining indicates the presence of iron.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1

Series1

Series2

Series3

Series4

Series5

Series6

Series7

Series8

Series9

Series10

Series11

Series12

Series13

Series14Iron content of control and

transgenic rice seeds at T5

homozygous line

31. Parent, 2. Am SOD, 3. Ferritin (With respect to respective parents)

Introgression of Transgene to Indica Varieties

ADT 43IR 64

21

White Ponni IR 20

1

1 1 2

2 23

3

3

2

1

3

CGIAR Biofortification Challenge Program

Crop Nutrient Countries of first

release

Release Year

Bean Iron (Zinc) D R Congo, Rwanda 2010

Casava Provitamin A D R Congo, Rwanda 2011-12

Maize Provitamin A Zambia 2011-12

Pearl Millet Iron (Zinc) India 2011

Rice Zinc (Iron) Bangladesh, India 2012-13

Sweet Potato Provitamin A Uganda, Mozambique 2007

Wheat Zinc (Iron) India, Pakistan 2012-13

National Biotechnology Regulatory Authority

The bottom line of our national

agricultural biotechnology policy should

be the economic well being of farm

families, food security of the nation,

health security of the consumer,

biosecurity of agriculture and health,

protection of the environment and the

security of national and international

trade in farm commodities”

(M S Swaminathan Panel 2004)

Gene Banks for a Warming Planet

Prof M S Swaminathan, Editorial, Science Vol. 325, 31 July 2009

Community Gene & Seed Banks

National Gene Bank

Svalbard –

Global Seed Vault

Conservation continuum

Gene Bank Seed Bank Water BankGrain Bank

Conservation - Cultivation – Consumption - Commerce

Enhancing the Coping Capacity of Local Communities

Local level Food and Water Security

We Reap as We Sow

o Much progress in plant breeding – however,

seed and seed quality are not receiving

adequate attention

o Need to invest in improving seed quality

o Accelerate progress in spreading good quality

seeds

o Establish Farmer Managed Seed Villages