Conservation and Development of Rice Germplasm for Natural Farming

Natural farming practices have gathered colossal attention due to their long-term sustainability and economic viability. The non-dependence on chemical fertilizers in the new farming practices makes preserving the vast diversity of genetic resources such as landraces, wild relatives, and traditional varieties essential because they store the genetic traits that might be useful for adapting rice to new farming practices. The wide germplasm offers opportunities to the scientific community to explore genetic traits to develop varieties/cultivars tailored to specific agro ecological zones, leading to enhanced crop yields and reduced economic burden. Besides, climate change poses a massive threat to agriculture production systems across the globe. Temperature aberration, erratic precipitation, frequency of extreme weather events, etc., can impact rice production. The conservation of germplasm emerges as a stalwart defense against this menace. It equips the agricultural community with a potent arsenal for combating climate change by providing access to genetic resources that harbor resilience-enhancing traits critical for sustaining rice production amidst the unpredictable challenges posed by a changing climate. Meanwhile, the continuous release of modern rice varieties (hybrids), as a replacement to traditional varieties to boost rice productivity, has inadvertently led to increased pests and diseases under intensive cultivation. As natural farming forms an unformidable pillar of sustainable agriculture, the conservation of rice germplasm to preserve genetic diversity becomes essential. It provides a safety net to guard against the unforeseen effects of modernization.