{"id":6078,"date":"2026-01-05T01:20:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T19:50:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/?p=6078"},"modified":"2026-01-06T12:00:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T06:30:10","slug":"gm-mustard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/gm-mustard\/","title":{"rendered":"GM Mustard"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>GM Mustard DMH-11<\/strong>\u00a0is created by crossing the\u00a0<strong>Indian\u00a0<\/strong>variety\u00a0<strong>Varuna\u00a0<\/strong>with the Eastern European variety \u2018<strong>EarlyHeera-2\u2019.<\/strong>\u00a0It has been claimed that the yield of DMH-11 is 28 percent higher than Varuna. This hybrid is developed by mixing the genes of two different varieties of a plant from the same species. The first-generation offspring of such cross crops give a higher yield than both parents.<\/p>\r\n<h2>Development of GM Mustard<\/h2>\r\n<p>Breeders used the\u00a0<strong>Cytoplasmic Male Sterility System<\/strong>, turning to a gene in wild mustard that impedes\u00a0<strong>pollen formation.\u00a0<\/strong>This gene, which occurs in the\u00a0<strong>cell\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong>cytoplasm, is transferred to cultivated mustard by repeatedly crossing both plants. The cultivated mustard,\u00a0<strong>Brassica juncea,<\/strong>\u00a0has stopped producing pollen and can now function as a female parent.<\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>Then, another gene from wild mustard is transferred to another variety of Brassica juncea, which becomes the male parent, to reverse the pollen sterility caused by the first gene.\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>These two are then crossed to create a\u00a0<strong>hybrid\u00a0<\/strong>of both Brassica varieties. To add a trait to a crop plant, a gene is inserted along with the additional\u00a0<strong>genetic material,<\/strong>\u00a0which helps in the expression of new traits in the plant.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Marker genes help in the determination of expressed new traits in the plant.<\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>Herbicides<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>antibiotic-tolerant promoters<\/strong>\u00a0are used for the identification of transformed plants.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h3>Dhara Mustard Hybrid (DMH-11)<\/h3>\r\n<p>DMH-11 was created by a team of scientists from Delhi University's\u00a0<strong>Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGMCP)<\/strong>\u00a0with assistance from the\u00a0<strong>National Dairy Development Board (NDDB)\u00a0<\/strong>and the\u00a0<strong>Department of Biotechnology.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vajiram-prod.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com\/dhara_mustard_hybrid_11_d5738da8a9.png\" alt=\"dhara mustard hybrid 11\" \/><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>The transgenic hybrid is developed by hybridising an Indian mustard variety called\u00a0<strong>Varuna\u00a0<\/strong>with the east European<strong>\u00a0\u2018EH-2\u2019.<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>The DMH-11 has been developed using the\u00a0<strong>genetic male sterility (GMS)\u00a0<\/strong>technique, especially the<strong>\u00a0'barstar-barnase' system,<\/strong>\u00a0to make herbicide resistant.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n\t<li>The new method can produce pure seed almost 99% of the time.\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>This means that the transgenic mustard will be able to reach more farmers than its predecessor.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>DMH-11\u00a0<\/strong>is based on the\u00a0<strong>Barnase-Barstar system.<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>The Barnase gene codes for a protein that hinders\u00a0<strong>pollen production<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>The plant into which the Barnase gene is introduced made it male-sterile and left it only capable of receiving pollen from another parent.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n\t<li>A plant having a fertile, potent male part contains the Barstar gene, which blocks the action of the\u00a0<strong>Barnase gene.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n\t<li>The resultant F1 progeny is both high-yielding and potent to produce seed\/grain, in the second male-fertile line.<\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>Bio-safety research<\/strong>\u00a0level field trials done on DMH-11 have reported a roughly 30% more yield advantage over the Varuna \u2018check\u2019 variety carried out between 2010-11 and 2014-15.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2>Necessity of GM Mustard in India<\/h2>\r\n<p>DMH-11 is vital to making India\u00a0<strong>self-sufficient in edible oils<\/strong>. During\u00a0<strong>2021-22<\/strong>, domestic edible\u00a0<strong>oil production stood at 116.5 lakh tonnes<\/strong>\u00a0and imports at 141.93 lakh tonnes. At the current consumption rate, India will need 34 million tonnes of edible oils by 2025-26, which will put significant pressure on the country\u2019s\u00a0<strong>foreign exchange reserves.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>Mustard has the potential to turn around the situation, as it contributes\u00a0<strong>40 percent of total edible oil production in India<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>At present, mustard is grown on eight million hectares, with an average yield of\u00a0<strong>1-1.3 tonnes per hectare<\/strong>.\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li><strong>Transgenic seeds<\/strong>\u00a0have the potential to increase yields to\u00a0<strong>3-3.5<\/strong>\u00a0tonnes per hectare.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n\t<li>In 2022, the\u00a0<strong>Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC)\u00a0<\/strong>approved the environmental release of\u00a0<strong>Genetically Modified (GM) Mustard hybrid DMH-11<\/strong>\u00a0and its parental lines for seed production and testing.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2>Advantages of GM Mustard<\/h2>\r\n<p>The following are some advantages of GM Mustard:<\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li><strong>Boost to Production:<\/strong>\u00a0According to some experts, DMH-11 can\u00a0<strong>increase yield by 25 to 30 percent<\/strong>\u00a0despite using less water, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides.<\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>Opens the Pathway for More Genetic Research:\u00a0<\/strong>DMH-11 opens up the possibility for further\u00a0<strong>genetic engineering research<\/strong>\u00a0toward developing mustard hybrids with other selective traits such as better input efficiency, better product quality, and higher pest resistance.\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>Recently, the GEAC has recommended field trials for GM hybrids of Banana, Cotton, Potato, and Rubber.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>Pest Management:<\/strong>\u00a0GM mustard has been modified to be resistant to the broad-spectrum plant-killer or\u00a0<strong>herbicide glufosinate.<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>This facilitates the development of hybrid mustard seeds with higher yields.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>Herbicide Tolerant:<\/strong>\u00a0The use of herbicides in herbicide tolerant (HT) crops has an advantage in terms of saving<strong>\u00a0soil moisture and nutrients,\u00a0<\/strong>besides effective weed control.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2>Concerns associated with GM Mustard<\/h2>\r\n<p>The introduction of GM mustard may improve the country\u2019s self-sustenance in the production and consumption of edible oil and decrease dependency on imports but it comes with some serious concerns.<\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li><strong>Honey Production:\u00a0<\/strong>GM mustard has\u00a0<strong>mutated flowering and pollen production<\/strong>\u00a0and, as a result, can affect honeybees directly or indirectly.\u00a0<strong>Protease inhibitors<\/strong>\u00a0have proved unfavourable to the longevity and behaviour of bees.\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>However, the expert committee noted that based on the examination of scientific evidence available globally,\u00a0<strong>it seems unlikely that\u00a0<\/strong>the barstar system (of genes) will adversely impact bees and other pollinators.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>Health Concerns:\u00a0<\/strong>Genetic modification with the genes bar, bacterial protein Barnese and barstar used to prepare GM mustard seed has never been a part of the human diet, so introducing the genes can create novel proteins with unknown impacts.<\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>Use of Herbicide:<\/strong>The DMH-11 mustard variety is herbicide tolerant, allowing farmers to spray over the crops with weed killer. Excessive use of toxic herbicides could lead to weeds becoming\u00a0<strong>resistant\u00a0<\/strong>and the\u00a0<strong>emergence of superweeds<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>Unemployment:\u00a0<\/strong>GM Mustard contains a third-time gene that makes it\u00a0<strong>weedicide glufosinate ammonium tolerant.\u00a0<\/strong>Earlier manual labour had to be employed to remove weeds, now the work will be done by adding chemicals.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GM Mustard DMH-11 is prepared by crossing the Indian variety Varuna with the Eastern European variety Early Heera-2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":8437,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[239],"tags":[759,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-6078","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-quest-level-4","8":"tag-gm-mustard","9":"tag-quest"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6078"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19879,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6078\/revisions\/19879"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}