ICAR's nodal office dismisses concerns about gene-edited rice varieties

Bengaluru: The  Directorate of Knowledge Management in Agriculture (DKMA), New Delhi, the nodal office for information for the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), has dismissed concerns about the gene-edited varieties of rice that the Centre recently released. 

The two varieties of rice -- DRR Dhan 100 (Kamala), developed by Indian Institute of Rice Research in Hyderabad and Pusa Rice DST1 developed by Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi -- were released on May 4. In a report carried on the pages of DH on May 5, 2025, ‘Coalition for GM-Free India’ had voiced its concerns about the genetically modified varieties of rice. 

DKMA dubbed the assertion that r-DNA technology lacks public acceptance ‘baseless’, while justifying Centre’s exemptions to SDN-1 and SDN-2 categories of genome-edited plants. “So far, only Bt cotton was available to the farmers, and more than 90% farmers adopted the technology soon after it was made available,” the director said, while defending gene-editing as an extension of mutation breeding.

“There is no biosafety concern in the mutant crop varieties developed through spontaneous or induced mutations  as they carry only an alternative form of a native gene  and native protein with safe history of consumption of more than 75 years.” the statement said.  

The director argued that there were enough safety mechanisms to review the safety of plants under the SDN-1 and SDN-2 categories, pointing to the standard operating procedures. More than 30 agriculture-based countries have exempted the plants under two categories from stringent biosafety regulations. 

The statement also said that gene-edited crops were safe. “In relative terms, the risks and uncertainties of genome editing are lower than the risks and uncertainties of conventional random mutagenesis which makes use of radiation or chemicals to induce genetic changes,” the statement said, citing an analysis published by the EU in 2022.

On concerns about the introduction of GM rice impacting India’s rice exports, especially to the European Union, the director said the two varieties were non-Basmati category. “The EU is an insignificant importer of non-Basmati rice from India... If it is a matter of concern in the EU, the country can afford to lose the EU market in the larger interest of Indian farmers and consumers,” it said.