Precision breeding with genomic tools: A decade long journey of molecular breeding in rice

Abstract

Plant breeding helps in recombining and fixation of desirable alleles which enables the development of improved varieties with better productivity. Though classical plant breeding has contributed enormously in achieving genetic gains in different crops including rice, the challenges imposed by resource constraints as well as greater anticipated demand need better tools to meet the expectations. Molecular breeding which uses modern genomic tools integrated with plant breeding offers enormous potential for improvement of crop varieties. The present review focusses on the achievements of ICAR-IARI in molecular breeding in rice wherein as many as eight rice varieties were incorporated with genes governing resistance/tolerance to different traits and released for commercial cultivation in India. The various factors which enabled the successful integration of molecular breeding including development of infrastructure, human resources and the genetic and genomic resources have been discussed in detail. All the examples of translational research are from the marker assisted backcross breeding strategy, which limits the scope for achieving yield gains. In the foregoing discussion, the challenges and the opportunities for implementation of molecular breeding in rice to realize the full potential of these tools in plant breeding are discussed based on the decade long experience, which may be valuable for other crops as well.