Agriculture — UPSC Mains Model Answer

CRISPR-Cas9 and related Site-Directed Nuclease (SDN) technologies allow scientists to make precise cuts in a plant's own genome, inducing targeted mutations without inserting foreign DNA. SDN-1 category edits, which create small insertions or deletions, are functionally indistinguishable from naturally occurring mutations. This distinction is central to regulatory debates globally.

India's Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change issued guidelines exempting SDN-1 and SDN-2 category gene-edited organisms from the stringent GMO regulatory pathway under the Environment Protection Act, 1986. This policy shift is intended to fast-track development of improved crop varieties while maintaining biosafety oversight for SDN-3 edits that involve foreign DNA insertion.

Gene editing has demonstrated significant potential in developing disease-resistant, drought-tolerant, and nutritionally enhanced crop varieties. Research institutions have used these tools to develop blast-resistant rice and improved pulse varieties, directly addressing food security concerns in rain-fed agricultural regions.

Gene-edited mustard varieties with herbicide tolerance have been under development and regulatory review in India. However, commercial approvals involve multi-stage biosafety evaluations, and the status of any specific variety's final commercial clearance must be verified through official regulatory notifications rather than assumed.