Genomics for Crop Improvement-an Indian perspective

Agriculture in India is one of the most prominent sectors in the economy and about 43% of the country‘s land is used for agriculture related activities. The agricultural scenario of our country today is very different from what it was in the last century. Small land holding size, limited water resources, increased demand for food grains due the rapid population explosion, widespread land and water degradation, climate change, are some of the unprecedented challenges our agriculture faces today. In order to achieve sustainable agriculture in such adverse conditions, it is imperative that we adopt new and innovative ways to enhance our agricultural productivity. The science of genomics has opened up a whole new plethora of opportunities and avenues, which can help us achieve enhanced productivity under the present day challenges. The recent advances in the field of genomics offer great potential in hastening our various crop improvement programmes. Efforts must be undertaken to integrate this genomics knowledge and expertise, that we have acquired over the last few decades, into our conventional crop improvement programmes.