Dr. Arvind Kapur, Managing Director, Agri Seeds Consultant firm, Gurugram, Haryana, talks on the development of hybrids and varietal seeds using new breeding technologies.
Providing quality produce to the population and taking care of the farmers’ income are the main talk nowadays. With population rising every day, the food requirement also increases. Our approach to the same is important as our resources are not increasing and shrinking due to urbanisation, degradation, fertility level, and soil health apart from climate changes. We are getting either excess rainfall or short rainfall leading to increase in temperature. The pests and diseases are also changing and becoming resistant. So we have to change our approach towards biodiversity, gene pool change. We are not getting germplasm available on call. Unless we pay for that or create remunerative system to other countries, the germplasm will not be exchanged. So the Food and Agriculture Organization have found that to ensure food supply in the world, we have to segregate agriculture biodiversity from the general biodiversity. So another treaty was created to ensure that exchange of germplasm should happen through multilateral system. About 107 countries have signed the treaty to share the germplasm with the gene bank through the system and each user to get standard material transfer. It is called MTA with standard procedures to apply and get gene pool. They pay 0.1 or 0.01% of their turnover when they develop the crop through these germplasms to the gene bank. The money will be offered to the countries for conservation and protection of development of gene pool. But clarity is still not there for many countries leading to not sharing the germplasm with other countries and everyone looking for local gene pools and get the benefit for their own countries.
Every country decides that they will pay at the time of development of a product a certain amount of the turnover to the central system for using for conservation. But this will not serve the purpose as the money will come after 10 years after developing the hybrid. So it was decided to pay a part of the turnover to the treaty so that the corpus of money is created for the world to work on germplasm and for every industry to get it when they require. But this is still under negotiation. There are some crops missing in the Annexure 1 of the treaty, and there is a discussion to include them also. Such challenges have to be overcome in the future for higher production per unit per area. There are water shortage, diseases and many challenges for the breeders. It is essential that we get good food failing which we will face uneasiness. Surety of food is the mandate of the United Nations.
It is important that we have to stabilise and increase yield despite climate challenge. There are poverty issues, water, nutrition, and food issues and climate change putting pressure on the agriculture added by pests which have become robust and mutating. It is a challenge to handle them with new technology and supply of chemicals and sprays. So International Seed Federation is trying to bring solutions in breeding technologies. Earlier, farmers used to select plants that had better looking seeds which is wrong. Selection of better species started with Mendel’s laws of segregation and law of independent assortment. During meiosis, segregation happens and seeds separate, and we get new combinants. We make selections in the early phases and start hybrid breeding. With first generation, yields are higher. Most of the seed companies are using this technique how to use hybrid breeding technique, develop new types, varieties, and hybrids that yield more. For example, maize which was one ton per acre has now reached 11 to 12 tons and aiming at 15 to 16 tons. With chemical mutants, people mutate the genes, and due to environmental pressure, we get new type of genes more adaptable to the situation where they are growing. This takes a long time. So scientists try in laboratories, bring in more mutation, and do something like delete some portion of genome and get altered functioning of genes. People also use tissue culture where they capture chromosomal variations in tissue culture and get better types.
We have machines to sequence genome like NGS and WGS to see the genome very clearly and understand their functions. By observing the expressions, we develop a new technique called genetic modification. We can insert the gene into the genome itself. People have also identified a few interspecies where gene is transferred from one species to the others to build new traits. With BT cotton, the gene came from the soil bacteria which has a protein acting on the gut of the insects to kill them. We transfer the gene inside the plant, and it developed expressions to control the insects. In crops like soya beans they found that the plant itself carries the genes, and there is no need of using any external thing to control the weeds. With new genetics the seeds help the farmers to avoid using chemicals as a result of which soil has become totally immune. So people have understood the new genome and its functions and are developing markers. They pick up the plants which have the genes leading to smart breeding. By creating mapping population, the markers are identified. There is a technology to develop markers, and polymorphing is identified. These technologies help breeders become more precise and do fast breeding, thus saving lot of time and space. People know where the genes are heading to, and using technologies, they build combinations that carry those traits.
Another technology to edit gene which is very precise as it was found tht the virus bacteria has a system that can understand which virus is likely to attack and protect itself. People know to mask the gene function and improve the gene function. It brings lot of scope to create new traits that are both biotic and abiotic. We have to understand the high quality, nuclear, cytoplasmic, and external environment as they have interactions and signals going on. The cytoplasmic activities and nuclear activities decide the functionality of the whole system. We should know how development has taken place and the years taken. People are trying to establish the new algorithms with new databases, and it is going to be a very advanced and complex system to get a better product outcome for the breeders.
We need innovations because tropics are the most variable environment which has challenged the breeders more because the climate changes are there. It needs the strong seed system as the innovation should be transformed into commercial product to go into the market. We need good seed system, selection of chemical and technology, and this is the combination and solution we want along with policies. We have to protect the small farmers who are not getting good yield and remuneration. The plant breeding takes longer years for technologies to come not commercial side with lot of time and effort requirement to bring to cultivation and the benefit going to farmers. So we need phenotyping which is important to find out if the trait is expressed or not. This will increase accuracy and reduce the time to get the variation to make the new crop system. The breeder has a challenge and make use of the new innovation. With rapid changes in climate, the changes have to be followed at the earliest. Every geneticist is working on how to use the precise and speed breeding. Everything is timebound. So we have to speed up breeding to bring newer and better products.
What are the new breeding technologies being used in the development of hybrid and varietal seeds? How do these new breeding technologies contribute to improvement of crop yield and quality?
We are using genetic technology and sequencing, markets, and phenotyping. We are using seed breeding by providing 18 hours light and growth conditions. Many technologies have been incorporated now. These are expensive tools, but everyone wants to get the product fast. The geneticist in India and other countries are using the technologies available. There are technologies, marker selections, and gen sequencing and expression of ESP tags to see the expression of these. Phenotyping, digital phenotyping, and IT tools are being used. We have created systems by putting data, annotating them, and seeing how much material we see and get better result, yield, and traits recombined in such a way to get better output. Our final goal is to get the best recombinant. The technologies are expensive and not used for fun, but to create commercial products and better yield. It is about creating sub heterotic tools in such a way tht traits are stimulated and built to work out on the genetic variation to get higher yield. We can silence some genes or enhance the gene function in such a way to get better output. People are trying, and technologies are being perfected. We will get the product with better traits and better stress tolerant traits, better pest and disease resistant trait and better yield as the yields are being eaten away by stress factors that have to be avoided to maintain the genetic potential of the crop.
What are the advantages of using hybrid seeds compared to traditional open pollinated varieties? How do new breeding technology ensure the stability and uniformity of hybrid and varietal seeds? Are there any potential challenges and limitations associated with the new breeding technology?
The traditional varieties have limitation of yields. Heterosis is done to cross two diverse parents to bring recombinant in such a way that the first generation has better performance than the parents. Hybrids have the advantage over the varieties because of their higher yield, better recombination, and better expression of traits. We cannot make certain crops hybrid using the technologies. We are using technical combination of new and conventional breeding. We take into account the environmental, soil, and cultural practices conditions to grow with the new genetics there. We ensure that they are stable after lot of trial, bring hybridisation of new varieties and check them again to see if the genes are expressed there in the right way to get better yield. People question us about doing something not natural, but we have to overcome the challenges, test as not to bring any anti-nutritional factors to affect humans or animals. Our testing procedures are very stringent with many tests before releasing the product. All controls and policies are followed.
How do the technologies impact the time and cost required for development of new hybrid seeds? What are the potential benefits of using varietal seeds developed through technology for specific regions and environmental conditions?
Time will reduce, but cost will increase. We have to pay for the advantage of time, get food available for the population, and this is worth paying the cost to get plenty and good food for the people. We have to create genetics to balance biotic and abiotic stresses as the focus is not to use chemical fertilisers that pollute environment. Most of the traits should be controlled by genetics itself, and it will take time. In the case of BT cotton, we see how much time was saved and farmers got more income. We will reduce dependency on chemicals to avoid diseases, be tolerant to climatic variations.
Does breeding technology address the demand for crop with improved resistance to pests and diseases? What are the ethical and regulatory considerations associated with the development and commercialisation of hybrid seeds using new breeding technologies?
We understand the genomes well, such as where and which genes are involved for susceptibility responsible for genes. We are using the gene rating to get the right expressing and resistance. The debate on GM is dying down now as people have understood that it is a well-tested product without any harmful impact on humans or animals. We are open to security, and we do lot of trials, human health, environmental health checking, and chemical analysis so that we do not release any product of higher toxicity. We are conscious about the issues of ethics and policies.
Please let us know about your career background and how you got interested in this field.
I did my Ph. D in molecular genetics, worked in a plant breeding department for 8 years before moving into private sector. I have done lot of participation in breeding, worked in India, Asia, and China to find out about germplasm, variation of genes. I am chairman of IP committee of Asia Pacific Seed Association looking into biodiversity and plant protection and traits issues apart from technology. We are also looking into new issues of breeders right and farmers’ right and how they are being handled in the world. I am working on how both the breeders and farmers can be benefited.
Dr. Arvind Kapur
Managing Director
AGRI SEEDS Consultant firm
Email: a.kapur02@gmail.com
Phone: 9810894125
Providing quality produce to the population and taking care of the farmers’ income are the main talk nowadays. With population rising every day, the food requirement also increases. Our approach to the same is important as our resources are not increasing and shrinking due to urbanisation, degradation, fertility level, and soil health apart from climate changes. We are getting either excess rainfall or short rainfall leading to increase in temperature. The pests and diseases are also changing and becoming resistant. So we have to change our approach towards biodiversity, gene pool change. We are not getting germplasm available on call. Unless we pay for that or create remunerative system to other countries, the germplasm will not be exchanged. So the Food and Agriculture Organization have found that to ensure food supply in the world, we have to segregate agriculture biodiversity from the general biodiversity. So another treaty was created to ensure that exchange of germplasm should happen through multilateral system. About 107 countries have signed the treaty to share the germplasm with the gene bank through the system and each user to get standard material transfer. It is called MTA with standard procedures to apply and get gene pool. They pay 0.1 or 0.01% of their turnover when they develop the crop through these germplasms to the gene bank. The money will be offered to the countries for conservation and protection of development of gene pool. But clarity is still not there for many countries leading to not sharing the germplasm with other countries and everyone looking for local gene pools and get the benefit for their own countries.
Every country decides that they will pay at the time of development of a product a certain amount of the turnover to the central system for using for conservation. But this will not serve the purpose as the money will come after 10 years after developing the hybrid. So it was decided to pay a part of the turnover to the treaty so that the corpus of money is created for the world to work on germplasm and for every industry to get it when they require. But this is still under negotiation. There are some crops missing in the Annexure 1 of the treaty, and there is a discussion to include them also. Such challenges have to be overcome in the future for higher production per unit per area. There are water shortage, diseases and many challenges for the breeders. It is essential that we get good food failing which we will face uneasiness. Surety of food is the mandate of the United Nations.
It is important that we have to stabilise and increase yield despite climate challenge. There are poverty issues, water, nutrition, and food issues and climate change putting pressure on the agriculture added by pests which have become robust and mutating. It is a challenge to handle them with new technology and supply of chemicals and sprays. So International Seed Federation is trying to bring solutions in breeding technologies. Earlier, farmers used to select plants that had better looking seeds which is wrong. Selection of better species started with Mendel’s laws of segregation and law of independent assortment. During meiosis, segregation happens and seeds separate, and we get new combinants. We make selections in the early phases and start hybrid breeding. With first generation, yields are higher. Most of the seed companies are using this technique how to use hybrid breeding technique, develop new types, varieties, and hybrids that yield more. For example, maize which was one ton per acre has now reached 11 to 12 tons and aiming at 15 to 16 tons. With chemical mutants, people mutate the genes, and due to environmental pressure, we get new type of genes more adaptable to the situation where they are growing. This takes a long time. So scientists try in laboratories, bring in more mutation, and do something like delete some portion of genome and get altered functioning of genes. People also use tissue culture where they capture chromosomal variations in tissue culture and get better types.
We have machines to sequence genome like NGS and WGS to see the genome very clearly and understand their functions. By observing the expressions, we develop a new technique called genetic modification. We can insert the gene into the genome itself. People have also identified a few interspecies where gene is transferred from one species to the others to build new traits. With BT cotton, the gene came from the soil bacteria which has a protein acting on the gut of the insects to kill them. We transfer the gene inside the plant, and it developed expressions to control the insects. In crops like soya beans they found that the plant itself carries the genes, and there is no need of using any external thing to control the weeds. With new genetics the seeds help the farmers to avoid using chemicals as a result of which soil has become totally immune. So people have understood the new genome and its functions and are developing markers. They pick up the plants which have the genes leading to smart breeding. By creating mapping population, the markers are identified. There is a technology to develop markers, and polymorphing is identified. These technologies help breeders become more precise and do fast breeding, thus saving lot of time and space. People know where the genes are heading to, and using technologies, they build combinations that carry those traits.
Another technology to edit gene which is very precise as it was found tht the virus bacteria has a system that can understand which virus is likely to attack and protect itself. People know to mask the gene function and improve the gene function. It brings lot of scope to create new traits that are both biotic and abiotic. We have to understand the high quality, nuclear, cytoplasmic, and external environment as they have interactions and signals going on. The cytoplasmic activities and nuclear activities decide the functionality of the whole system. We should know how development has taken place and the years taken. People are trying to establish the new algorithms with new databases, and it is going to be a very advanced and complex system to get a better product outcome for the breeders.
We need innovations because tropics are the most variable environment which has challenged the breeders more because the climate changes are there. It needs the strong seed system as the innovation should be transformed into commercial product to go into the market. We need good seed system, selection of chemical and technology, and this is the combination and solution we want along with policies. We have to protect the small farmers who are not getting good yield and remuneration. The plant breeding takes longer years for technologies to come not commercial side with lot of time and effort requirement to bring to cultivation and the benefit going to farmers. So we need phenotyping which is important to find out if the trait is expressed or not. This will increase accuracy and reduce the time to get the variation to make the new crop system. The breeder has a challenge and make use of the new innovation. With rapid changes in climate, the changes have to be followed at the earliest. Every geneticist is working on how to use the precise and speed breeding. Everything is timebound. So we have to speed up breeding to bring newer and better products.
What are the new breeding technologies being used in the development of hybrid and varietal seeds? How do these new breeding technologies contribute to improvement of crop yield and quality?
We are using genetic technology and sequencing, markets, and phenotyping. We are using seed breeding by providing 18 hours light and growth conditions. Many technologies have been incorporated now. These are expensive tools, but everyone wants to get the product fast. The geneticist in India and other countries are using the technologies available. There are technologies, marker selections, and gen sequencing and expression of ESP tags to see the expression of these. Phenotyping, digital phenotyping, and IT tools are being used. We have created systems by putting data, annotating them, and seeing how much material we see and get better result, yield, and traits recombined in such a way to get better output. Our final goal is to get the best recombinant. The technologies are expensive and not used for fun, but to create commercial products and better yield. It is about creating sub heterotic tools in such a way tht traits are stimulated and built to work out on the genetic variation to get higher yield. We can silence some genes or enhance the gene function in such a way to get better output. People are trying, and technologies are being perfected. We will get the product with better traits and better stress tolerant traits, better pest and disease resistant trait and better yield as the yields are being eaten away by stress factors that have to be avoided to maintain the genetic potential of the crop.
What are the advantages of using hybrid seeds compared to traditional open pollinated varieties? How do new breeding technology ensure the stability and uniformity of hybrid and varietal seeds? Are there any potential challenges and limitations associated with the new breeding technology?
The traditional varieties have limitation of yields. Heterosis is done to cross two diverse parents to bring recombinant in such a way that the first generation has better performance than the parents. Hybrids have the advantage over the varieties because of their higher yield, better recombination, and better expression of traits. We cannot make certain crops hybrid using the technologies. We are using technical combination of new and conventional breeding. We take into account the environmental, soil, and cultural practices conditions to grow with the new genetics there. We ensure that they are stable after lot of trial, bring hybridisation of new varieties and check them again to see if the genes are expressed there in the right way to get better yield. People question us about doing something not natural, but we have to overcome the challenges, test as not to bring any anti-nutritional factors to affect humans or animals. Our testing procedures are very stringent with many tests before releasing the product. All controls and policies are followed.
How do the technologies impact the time and cost required for development of new hybrid seeds? What are the potential benefits of using varietal seeds developed through technology for specific regions and environmental conditions?
Time will reduce, but cost will increase. We have to pay for the advantage of time, get food available for the population, and this is worth paying the cost to get plenty and good food for the people. We have to create genetics to balance biotic and abiotic stresses as the focus is not to use chemical fertilisers that pollute environment. Most of the traits should be controlled by genetics itself, and it will take time. In the case of BT cotton, we see how much time was saved and farmers got more income. We will reduce dependency on chemicals to avoid diseases, be tolerant to climatic variations.
Does breeding technology address the demand for crop with improved resistance to pests and diseases? What are the ethical and regulatory considerations associated with the development and commercialisation of hybrid seeds using new breeding technologies?
We understand the genomes well, such as where and which genes are involved for susceptibility responsible for genes. We are using the gene rating to get the right expressing and resistance. The debate on GM is dying down now as people have understood that it is a well-tested product without any harmful impact on humans or animals. We are open to security, and we do lot of trials, human health, environmental health checking, and chemical analysis so that we do not release any product of higher toxicity. We are conscious about the issues of ethics and policies.
Please let us know about your career background and how you got interested in this field.
I did my Ph. D in molecular genetics, worked in a plant breeding department for 8 years before moving into private sector. I have done lot of participation in breeding, worked in India, Asia, and China to find out about germplasm, variation of genes. I am chairman of IP committee of Asia Pacific Seed Association looking into biodiversity and plant protection and traits issues apart from technology. We are also looking into new issues of breeders right and farmers’ right and how they are being handled in the world. I am working on how both the breeders and farmers can be benefited.
Dr. Arvind Kapur
Managing Director
AGRI SEEDS Consultant firm
Email: a.kapur02@gmail.com
Phone: 9810894125