How BARC Uses Radiation to Develop Better Crop Varieties

Indicative Image

There's a common misconception about nuclear agriculture: that scientists zap some seeds with radiation, and voilà - a new crop variety appears. The reality is far more interesting, and far more collaborative.

It's Not Magic; It's a Long Chain of Work. At the heart of this story is the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), India's premier nuclear research institute. Within BARC, a specific division the Nuclear Agriculture and Biotechnology Division (NA&BTD) works on improving crops using radiation, combined with traditional breeding, tissue culture, and modern molecular science.

As of June 2025, BARC had released and officially notified 71 crop varieties for farmers to grow. But here's the key point: BARC never does this alone. It works hand-in-hand with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), State Agricultural Universities, and other institutions across the country.

Science, Simplified

Here's the basic idea. Plants naturally develop small genetic changes — mutations — over time, all on their own. What BARC does is speed this up using radiation, like gamma rays, to increase how often these mutations occur.

But here's the catch: most mutations aren't useful. Some might even be harmful. So scientists have to grow huge numbers of treated plants and carefully search for the rare ones that show promising traits — things like:

Once a promising plant is found, it doesn't get released immediately. It's grown across several generations to check that the new trait is stable and consistent — not a fluke.

So the real journey looks like this: Radiation - Genetic variation - Selection - Testing - Breeding - Multi-location trials - Release - Farmers

Notice how radiation is just the first step not the whole story.

Why BARC Needs Partners

This is where the collaboration becomes essential. BARC has deep expertise in creating genetic variation through nuclear techniques. But it doesn't necessarily know everything about, say, how rice behaves in the black soils of Chhattisgarh, or how sorghum performs in Karnataka's climate.

That's where ICAR and agricultural universities come in — they understand local soil, climate, pests, and farming practices intimately.

The work typically flows like this:

BARC creates mutations and identifies promising breeding material through genetic and molecular studies.
Agricultural universities/ICAR take that material and test it through breeding and field evaluation under real farming conditions.
Multi-location trials compare the new material against existing varieties across different regions.
Official notification happens if the variety meets required standards.
Seed multiplication follows, eventually getting the seeds into farmers' hands.

A Real Example: Rescuing Traditional Rice

One of the most compelling examples involves traditional rice varieties. Many old, local rice types are prized for their aroma or special grain qualities — but they often have drawbacks like being too tall, maturing too late, or falling over easily (called "lodging").

Normally, if you try to fix these flaws through conventional breeding, you risk losing the very qualities that made the rice special in the first place.

This is where BARC's partnership with Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya (IGKV), Raipur comes in. Together, they've developed:

Trombay Chhattisgarh Vishnubhog Mutant — kept the original aromatic, short-grain character of Vishnubhog rice, but gave it a shorter, sturdier plant and better yield.
Trombay Chhattisgarh Sonagathi Mutant Rice — resists lodging and shattering, matures earlier, and has other improved traits.

The lesson here: the goal isn't to reinvent a crop from scratch. It's to fix a few weak spots while preserving what farmers and consumers already love about it.

Beyond Rice: A Nationwide Effort

This model isn't limited to one crop or one state. BARC's work spans cereals, pulses, and oilseeds, with partnerships stretching across India:

Trombay Sorghum (RTS-43) — developed with the University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur; matures early and suits deep black soils.
Trombay Jodhpur Mustard 2 (TJM-2) — developed with Agriculture University, Jodhpur.
Trombay Chhattisgarh Mungfali (TG 88) — a groundnut variety, again with IGKV, Raipur.

Why the Farmer's Field Is the Real Test

A crop that thrives in a lab or research station might behave completely differently once it's out in the real world. Why? Because agriculture depends heavily on local conditions:

Soil type — black soil, red soil, laterite soil all behave differently
Climate — rainfall and temperature vary by region
Pests and diseases — pressure differs from place to place
Farming practices — irrigation, fertilizer use, and planting schedules all matter

That's why every promising mutant goes through repeated rounds of testing — station trials, multi-location trials, and adaptive trials — often coordinated through All India Coordinated Research Projects. Only after passing these real-world tests does a variety get released.

What Radiation Actually Does (And Doesn't Do)

It's worth being clear: radiation doesn't make plants grow faster or "feed" them in any direct sense. Its only job is to create genetic variation — essentially giving breeders more raw material to work with when a desired trait is hard to find naturally.

BARC treats mutation breeding as just one tool in a bigger toolbox that also includes hybridization, tissue culture, and molecular techniques.

Looking Ahead

BARC's current research priorities reflect the pressures facing modern agriculture — drought tolerance, disease resistance, better nutrition, water-use efficiency, and climate resilience. There's no single silver-bullet technology for these challenges, but mutation breeding gives scientists one more option in a broader strategy.

Ultimately, this isn't really a story about radiation. It's a story about teamwork:

BARC brings nuclear science and biotechnology expertise
ICAR contributes a national research network and crop knowledge
Agricultural universities provide regional breeding and field-testing skills
Farmers provide the ultimate test — the real world

Together, these pieces turn a discovery in a laboratory into a seed that a farmer can actually plant, grow, and harvest. As the saying might go here: the most interesting part of nuclear agriculture doesn't happen in the lab it happens in the field.

✍ Umesh Kumar S, Sr. Journalist

Keywords: BARC crop improvement, radiation breeding, mutation breeding, ICAR collaboration, agricultural universities, crop varieties

Sources

BARC — Research & Development Activities: Health, Food and Agriculture
BARC — Nuclear Agriculture & Biotechnology Division
BARC — Applications of Radiation in Nuclear Agriculture
BARC — Mutation Breeding research publication
ICAR — Annual Group Meet on Pulses and ICAR-BARC Collaboration

CITIZEN NEWS PUTTUR