Why were semi-dwarf wheat and rice the heroes of the Green Revolution? And who is who: IR8, Jaya, Ratna, Sonalika?
Tanvi Deshmukh12th Sample
1 Sept 2026 Β· 1 min read
I made a big table for plant breeding (my favourite part of this chapter!!) but when I tried to fill the Green Revolution column, my brain went blank. So many names and I can't tell which came from where.
What I have so far:
- Plant breeding steps: collection of variability, evaluation and selection of parents, cross hybridisation, selection and testing of superior recombinants, testing/release/commercialisation
- Wheat: Sonalika and Kalyan Sona
- Rice: IR8, Taichung Native-1, Jaya, Ratna
Questions:
- Why semi-dwarf? Why not just tall plants with lots of grain? A tall plant gets more sunlight, right?
- Which rice was developed in India and which was imported? I think IR8 and TN1 are from outside and Jaya, Ratna are Indian but I'm not 100% sure.
- Does "Green Revolution" mean GM crops? Someone in my group said yes and now I'm doubting.
Also is hybrid vigour the same as the Green Revolution? I feel like they're getting mixed up in the MCQs. Please help!! π
7 answers & replies
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[+][β]Pooja Iyer12thSampleΒ· 1mo ago
Your guess on the rice is right. IR8 was developed at the international rice institute in the Philippines, and Taichung Native-1 came from Taiwan. Jaya and Ratna were developed in India. Mnemonic if you want: "Jaya Ratna = Indian jewels" π. Sonalika and Kalyan Sona are the wheat varieties, they are high-yielding and disease resistant.
[+][β]Zoya Khan12thSampleΒ· 1mo ago
On "why semi-dwarf": tall varieties respond to extra fertiliser by growing even taller and then they lodge, which means they fall over and the grain is lost. Semi-dwarf plants are shorter and sturdier, so they can take more fertiliser and irrigation and put the extra energy into grain instead of stem. So yes tall plants catch more light, but the yield per hectare is worse when they fall down. The breeders wanted a plant that responds well to inputs.
[+][β]Riya Singh12thSampleΒ· 1mo ago
Lodging. What a word for a falling crop. Saving that for a poem π
[+][β]Aman YadavDropperSampleΒ· 1mo ago
Green Revolution was not GM. It was conventional breeding: crossing, selection, testing. Higher yield varieties plus fertilisers, irrigation. GM crops are a different thing, you put a gene from another organism using biotechnology. Don't mix them. Hybrid vigour is also separate: it is the superiority of the F1 hybrid over its parents. Maize, jowar and bajra hybrids are examples.
[+][β]Tanvi Deshmukh12thSampleΒ· 1mo agoAuthor
Thank you!!! GM vs conventional was exactly what I wasn't sure about. Adding a "NOT GM" in big red letters to my chart! β€οΈ
[+][β]Siddharth RaoDropperSampleΒ· 1mo ago
Adding to Aman. Another exam trap: Green Revolution was mainly about wheat and rice, but NCERT also says the breeding goal for crops overall includes disease resistance, resistance to insect pests, tolerance to stress, improved nutritional quality (biofortification). People mix "improved yield" with "improved quality". Keep those two goals separate in your table.
And since you like tables, add a column for sugarcane: Saccharum barberi (north India, thin stems, low sugar) crossed with Saccharum officinarum (thicker, sweeter) to get a good variety for north India.
[+][β]Harsh Gupta12thSampleΒ· 1mo ago
as a PCM person I'm only here because Tanvi's tables are legendary, but "tall plants fall over when you feed them too much" is also me after Diwali mithai π ok going back to my vectors
