India’s rice revolution begins: Scientists engineer varieties built for drought and efficiency

less water and labor. These innovations are tailored for Dry Direct-Seeded Rice (DDSR) — an emerging cultivation technique where seeds are sown directly into dry soil instead of traditional flooded paddies. By eliminating the need for continuous irrigation and transplanting, DDSR offers a pathway to more water-efficient, climate-resilient rice production—particularly crucial as India faces mounting groundwater stress and rising rural labor costs. The new lines integrate 19 key agronomic and resilience traits into high-performing varieties. These include anaerobic germination, enhanced seedling vigor, lodging resistance, and built-in protection against major pests and diseases such as blast, brown planthopper, and gall midge. Scientists successfully introgressed these traits into MTU 1010—one of India’s most widely cultivated rice varieties—and IR 91648-B-89-B, an elite breeding line carrying major QTLs for yield stability under reproductive-stage drought stress, developed in the ...