Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday (February 1, 2025) announced the National Mission on High Yielding Seeds in her 8th Budget speech for the Modi government.
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The main objectives of the initiative, as announced by Ms. Nirmala, are:
- strengthening the research ecosystem,
- targeted development and propagation of seeds with high yield, pest resistance and climate resilience, and
- commercial availability of more than 100 seed varieties released since July 2024
“High-yielding seeds are the first step to improve output,” Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said at a press conference after the Budget presentation in Parliament. “Finance Minister has announced a National Mission on High Yielding Seeds. These seeds will have higher pest resistance, and will be able to maintain high crop output despite global warming. The Indian Council on Agricultural Research (ICAR) will research on these seeds and will try to make these available to farmers at the earliest,” Mr. Chouhan said.
“This new initiative, along with the Cotton Productivity Mission, demonstrates India’s investment in cutting-edge agricultural research and the promotion of climate-resilient, high-yield seed varieties. Restoration of 200% income tax deduction on R&D expenditures would certainly help the industry contribute significantly to this mission and we are hopeful that the government will consider it positively,” Raghavan Sampathkumar, Executive Director, Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII) said.
The 2025-26 Notes on Demands and Grants has listed ₹100 crore for National Mission on Hybrid Seeds to “strengthen research ecosystem and targeted development and propagation of hybrids with high yield, pest resistance, etc.”
How do high-yielding seeds aid climate mitigation?
Food systems are responsible for a considerable portion of emissions. A study published in Nature Food in March 2021 said that in 2015, food-system emissions amounted to 18 Gt CO2 equivalent per year globally, representing 34% of total greenhouse gas emissions. The largest share of this was from agriculture and land use/land-use change activities, at 71%, the study said.
As the climate crisis gets worse, there is a global push to explore high-yielding seeds. According to the World Bank, “the increase in food production has been linked to agricultural expansion, and unsustainable use of land and resources”, which makes the requirement for climate-resilience practices in agriculture like using high-yielding seeds even more crucial.
“High-yielding seed varieties are crucial for building climate resilience as it offers multiple benefits that include reduced reliance on irrigation, tolerance to adverse weather conditions (drought, floods, salinity), higher nutrients uptake, lower crop losses, increased productivity and ultimately help in boosting farmers’ incomes. Recognising this importance, the government has taken a significant step to launch a dedicated mission to promote high-yielding varieties in Budget 2025 to ensure sustainable and climate resilient agriculture in India,” Suresh NS, research scientist in Strategic Studies sector at CSTEP told The Hindu.
High-yielding varieties of seeds produce more crop per unit of agricultural land, which can help reduce land-use change. Many farming practices, like shifting cultivation, rely on clearing forests to make space for crop cultivation. This disrupts natural carbon sinks which otherwise function as natural carbon sinks. Seed varieties with higher yield and efficiency can potentially help counter these concerns, while maintaining a high crop output to promote food security.
Challenges
Producing high-yielding varieties of seeds needs extensive scientific research, which can possibly limit its availability for farmers to use freely. A 2023 report titled Concentration and Competition in U.S. Agribusiness, published by the United States Department of Agriculture, found that between 1990 and 2020, prices paid by farmers for crop seed increased by an average of 270%, while seed prices for crops grown predominantly with genetically modified (GM) traits rose by 463%, considerably more than commodity output prices.
Another challenge related to high-yielding seed varieties is a rise in monoculture. Traditionally, cultivating some crops together has had proven mutual benefits, but if a certain high-yielding variety promises increased output, farmers can be tempted to only focus on those at the cost of soil health, biodiversity, and more.
“To ensure accessibility for small and marginal farmers, dedicated seed banking centers must be established across India, making high-yielding varieties affordable and widely available. However, excessive promotion of select varieties should be balanced to prevent side-lining traditional crops,” Dr. Suresh said.
“Careful consideration of the associated challenges related to cost and accessibility, and proactive policy measures such as strong regulatory and ethical oversight are essential to maximise their positive impact and ensure equitable access for all farmers,” Indu K. Murthy, sector head (Climate, Environment and Sustainability) at CSTEP told The Hindu.
Success stories
MGR 100, formerly called CO 52, is a success story of a high-yielding variety of rice developed in India. CO 52 is a derivative of the cross involving BPT 5204 and CO (R) 50 varieties.
The crop matures in 130-135 days, and by 2017, it recorded a mean grain yield of 6,879 kg per hectare over three years of ‘station trials’ with 16.10% and 20.93 % improvement over CO (R) 49 and BPT 5204 respectively.
Dr. Suresh said, “Going ahead, special attention should be given to millets (ragi, bajra, jowar), pulses (tur, chana, moong) and oilseeds (groundnut, mustard, sunflower), as these crops can significantly benefit farmers in climate-stressed regions. Paddy should be a secondary priority, focusing on developing special seed varieties that reduce water consumption and methane emissions while improving sustainability.”
Published – February 01, 2025 06:51 pm IST