VATIS UPDATE Article

Agricultural researchers from ­Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) have mapped the genome of a popular jute crop grown in the country, making it possible for them to breed newer varieties endowed with better traits. According to the scientists, the sequencing has helped them identify several thousands of genes that are capable of conferring disease resistance, yield improvement, and better fibre quality.

For the mapping, the scientists led by Nagendra Kumar Singh, of ICAR, used a dark jute variety called Navin, which is popularly grown by farmers in India and Bangladesh. Navin is a cross between a jute variety sourced from Sudan and an indigenous one. It has been in cultivation for more than a decade. Dark jute varieties, commonly known as tossa among farmers, account for 90% of the jute cultivated in the country.

This is because dark jute produces softer and stronger fibres, but also because farmers use it for crop rotation in paddy fields. “Conventionally, developing a new crop variety takes 12 to 15 years. But having genomic data and DNA markers can bring down the time required for breeding a better variety six to seven years,” said Singh. Indian breeders in the past have used African jute to transfer premature flowering resistance to indigenous types, which were susceptible to premature flowering in early sowing during March.