The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has developed around 41 varieties of crops under its nuclear agriculture program.
BARC has developed about 15 varieties of groundnut, mustard, soyabean, sunflower, green gram, pigeon pea, black gram, cow pea, rice and jute.
Commenting on the development, BARC Nuclear Agriculture and Biotechnology Division head Suresh G Bhagwat said that nuclear technology will help the country to meet the increasing demand for food, especially when agriculture land is getting scarcer.
Radiation effects will improve genetic variability of plants that can be harnessed for the development of new varieties of crops such as cereals, pulses and oilseeds with characters such as increased yield, disease resistance, early maturity, salinity or water stress tolerance, added Bhagwat.
BARC noted that gamma radiation or electron beam will allow dis-infestation of insect pests in stored products, delay in ripening of fresh fruit, inhibition of sprouting in tubers and bulbs like potatoes and onions, destruction of food spoilage bacteria and elimination of parasites and pathogens in food.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India have gazette notified 41 crop varieties for commercial cultivation by farmers.
In addition, many protocols for micro propagation of banana varieties have been developed by BARC.
