Alternative Dwarfing genes in Wheat can help reduce Delhi’s Air Pollution
- Pune based, Agharkar Research Institute (ARI) an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology (India) has mapped alternative dwarfing genes in wheat which might help eliminate the problem of stubble burning.
- In the regions, where farmers have to sow wheat at the onset of the Kharif season, they are known to resort to the technique of burning down of leftover stubble from the previous cycle of cultivation. This has become a matter of concern, as it causes high levels of Air Pollution every year during the onset of winters, especially in the Delhi-NCR region.
- The alternative dwarfing wheat varieties that have been mapped can be sown as deep as 7-8 cm, whereas earlier sowing was limited to 4-5 cm (shallow sowing), hence no ground clearing in the form of stubble burning would be needed. Now it is possible for farmers to sow wheat under rice stubble-retained conditions.
- The two alternative dwarfing genes Rht14 and Rht18 in wheat. These genes are associated with better seedling vigour and longer coleoptiles (sheath protecting the young shoot tip).
- The deeper sowing of wheat seeds to avail advantage of residual moisture in the soil under dry environments and hence require less irrigation than current varieties.
- The presently available semi-dwarf wheat varieties, which were explored during the Green Revolution, carry conventional Rht1 dwarfing alleles (a variant form of a given gene) and produce optimum yields under high-fertility irrigated conditions. However, they are not well adapted for deeper sowing conditions in dry environments due to shorter coleoptiles, and low early vigour often results in reduced seedling emergence. Moreover, crop stands of Rht1 wheat also remain poor where previous crop residues pose a barrier for seedling emergence due to the short coleoptiles.
