NBRI study to counter global warming effect on food production

To counter adverse effects of global warming on agricultural production, Lucknow-based National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) will spearhead an ambitious study on making the plants more resistant to future climatic changes at the root level.

The project on ‘Root Biology’ would study plant physiology and molecular level genetics to enable the plants absorb more water and nutrients from the soil during phases of scarcity and withstand adverse environmental conditions.

“With global warming and temperature going up, the plant yield would be affected in future and there could be water shortage also. All this would result in change of cropping pattern,” NBRI director C S Nautiyal told Business Standard.

 

The multidisciplinary project aims at studying such plants, which can survive even in scarce water and soil nutrients and weather the vagaries of nature through optimum absorption by its roots.

He said the objective of the study is to know how plants can survive in challenges posed by future climatic and environment changes lest food grain production went down.

NBRI has gearing up to undertake Root Biology and half dozen more projects during the 12th Five Year Plan, when the Institute is likely to get 60 per cent more budget from the Centre.

The Institute would conduct research on selected plants for arriving at its postulates and later using the results and inferences for further research on food crops.

Another major project to be undertaken by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is soil mapping in India with the help of Indian Science Research Organisation (ISRO).

“This project has already been discussed before the Prime Minister,” he informed.

Soil mapping project would witness CSIR labs and ISRO working in tandem and sharing data such as satellite images of topography,” Nautiyal informed. Soil mapping would entail collecting data about micro nutrients, soil PH (measure of acidity in soil), nutrient content, minerals etc.