{"id":33114,"date":"2024-12-03T18:25:57","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T12:55:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=33114"},"modified":"2024-12-10T20:57:23","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T15:27:23","slug":"national-seed-congress-13th-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/03-12-2024\/national-seed-congress-13th-edition","title":{"rendered":"13th Edition of National Seed Congress (NSC)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Agriculture<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Scientists, policymakers and industry representatives participated in the 13th edition of the three-day <strong>National Seed Congress (NSC).<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>NSC is an annual confluence of researchers, policymakers, farmers, and representatives to strengthen the agricultural sector in India and globally.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Theme:<\/strong> Innovating for a Sustainable Seed Ecosystem.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Major Highlights:\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>To work more on innovative seed technologies for farmers in the country.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fostering South-South Collaboration in the Seed Sector.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The focus will be on hybrid and biofortified crops, stress-tolerant varieties, and accelerated breeding cycles.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Public-Private Partnerships in the sector to promote sustainable seed production and distribution.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The outcomes of these deliberations will be implemented with the full support of the State government to ensure food security, economic growth, and the welfare of farmers.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Hybrid Crops<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Hybrid crops are created through the process of crossbreeding two genetically different plants, typically from different varieties or species, to combine desirable traits from both parent plants.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Aim:<\/strong> To produce offspring that have superior qualities, such as increased yield, disease resistance, drought tolerance, or improved nutritional content.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Concern: <\/strong>Hybrid crops often do not produce seeds that retain the same beneficial traits as the parent crop, so farmers need to purchase new seeds each year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Biofortified Crops<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Biofortified crops<\/strong> are those that have been specially bred to have higher levels of essential nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, or amino acids, than their conventional counterparts.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This is done through traditional breeding techniques, genetic modification, or modern biotechnological methods.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Aim:<\/strong> It aims to improve the nutritional value of crops, especially in regions where deficiencies in essential nutrients are widespread.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Golden Rice<\/strong> has been genetically modified to produce higher levels of provitamin A (beta-carotene), aiming to reduce vitamin A deficiency.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f0cbca\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"603\" height=\"519\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Biofortified-Crops.webp\" alt=\"Biofortified Crops\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-33116\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f0cbca; width:491px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Biofortified-Crops.webp 603w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Biofortified-Crops-300x258.webp 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 603px) 100vw, 603px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Difference:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Hybrid crops focus on improving traits <\/strong>like yield, resilience, or growth characteristics by crossbreeding different varieties.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Biofortified crops focus on improving nutritional content<\/strong> to address deficiencies in key micronutrients.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Merits of biofortification:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It is regarded as the<strong> most sustainable approach <\/strong>to alleviate malnutrition.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It provides <strong>nutrients in natural form<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Biofortified food is affordable<\/strong> as it does not involve any additional price.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u2018Biofortified varieties\u2019 are as <strong>high yielding<\/strong> as \u2018traditional varieties\u2019, thus no loss is incurred to the farmers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It does<strong> not require elaborate infrastructure<\/strong> facilities as required in \u2018food fortification\u2019.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It does not involve <strong>additional cost<\/strong> on preparing the enriched food grains.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Government Initiatives to Promote Sustainable Seed Production and Distribution:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>National Seed Policy (2002): <\/strong>Encourages the private and public sectors to increase seed production, improve quality control, and facilitate the distribution of seeds.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National Gene Bank: <\/strong>Maintains the genetic diversity of crops, conserving traditional and indigenous varieties for future use.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>State Seed Banks:<\/strong> Support local farmers by conserving native seeds and facilitating seed exchange.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National Food Security Mission (NFSM): <\/strong>To increase the production of staple crops like rice, wheat, and pulses, with a focus on promoting the use of high-quality seeds.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY): <\/strong>It encourages the use of climate-resilient seeds for water-scarce regions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National Mission on Organic Farming (NMOF): <\/strong>Encourages organic seed production, providing subsidies for organic inputs and promoting seed-saving techniques.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Farmer-Producer Organizations (FPOs): <\/strong>FPOs facilitate the production and distribution of locally adapted seeds, enhancing the involvement of farmers in seed systems and promoting seed diversity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/seed-congress-resolves-to-promote-hybrid-biofortified-crops\/article68932075.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scientists, policymakers and industry representatives participated in the 13th edition of the three-day National Seed Congress (NSC).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33114"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33117,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33114\/revisions\/33117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}