India 2018

Agriculture 53
studies involving characterization and evaluation of more than 18,601 accessions
of wheat and rice for terminal heat and drought tolerance were completed
leading to identification of 472 rice genotypes/lines as moderately resistant to
biotic and abiotic stresses.
The Geographical Information System (GIS) on Animal Genetic Resources
(AnGR) of India was developed as a stand alone package by which the users
can extract and highlight habitats of selected breeds on the map. Nine new
breeds of livestock and poultry were registered taking the total number of
registered breeds to 160. Phenotypic characterization of Kaunayen chickens of
Manipur and donkeys in Andhra Pradesh was completed. Genetic
characterization of Kajali sheep, Sikkim goat, Kaunayen chicken and Ladakhi
cattle was carried out. Out of 20 male fertility related miRNAs in other species,
a few miRNAs were found differentially expressed in yak sperms, this
information may help in further investigation of fertility in yak bulls. The yak
found in Arunachal Pradesh are unique in the world, but also one of the critical
and endangered mountain species, which calls for an urgent attention for in
situ and ex situ conservation as well as breed characterization. A new fish species
of Indian chub mackerel (Scomber indicus) was discovered from Gujarat coast.
Likewise Barilius torsie (Cyprinidae: Rasborinae) was recorded from river Torsa
of Brahmaputra drainage system, and Rita bakalu (Siluriformes: Bagridae) from
the Godavari river basin.
Crop Improvement
A total of 310 varieties of different crops were released comprising 155 high
yielding varieties/hybrids of cereals, 68 of rice, 18 of wheat, 27 of maize, 17 of
pearl millet, 10 of sorghum, 4 each of fingermillet and little millet, 3 of barley, 2
each of oat and kodo millet for cultivation in different agroecologies of the
country during 2016. The first zincrich variety IET 23832 (polished rice has 22
ppm Zn), was released, notified, and recommended for Tamil Nadu, Andhra
Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. New oilseed varieties (50) including 16
varieties of rapeseed mustard, eight of groundnut, seven of linseed, five each
of soybean and sunflower, four of sesame, three of castor and two of niger were
released for different agro-ecological regions. First Canola-type Indian mustard
variety, Pusa Double Zero Mustard 31 (PDZ- 1), with less than 2 per cent erucic
acid in oil and less than 30 ppm glucosinolates in seed- meal was released for
National Capital Region Delhi. Three high oleic safflower varieties ISF-1, ISF-2
and ISF-3 were developed for the first time by introgressing traits from exotic
lines. Varieties (43) of pulses, including 10 of chickpea, 11 of mungbean, six of
pigeonpea, four each of fieldpea and lentil and three each of urdbean and
horsegram and two of cowpea were released for different agro-ecological
regions.
Livestock Improvement
Under the Indigenous Breed Project, 26 breeding bulls of Gir, Sahiwal and
Kankrej were inducted in the third set for progeny testing. Semen doses, 45,511,
44,521 and 11,890 were produced for Gir, Kankrej and Sahiwal, respectively.