Question

What is the importance of seed technology in agriculture?

Answer 1

Hint: After the independence of India, the major challenge faced by the government was to provide food and shelter for such a large population. While shelter was provided by building homes, the supply of food was a matter of concern. India is basically an agriculture-based country. Building of shelters reduced the agricultural land areas. So, the country needed to produce crops that would give a high yield. And this requirement was started to meet up with the arrival of an era known as the green revolution.

Complete answer:
Green revolution aims in the development of agricultural techniques along with introduction of new seed varieties that would give a high yield of better quality and quantity.
New seeds are produced by the help of biotechnology where the superior genes are combined, resistance towards pests are introduced, and these newly produced seeds are termed as hybrids. These are the improved varieties of the traditional seeds.
In India, improved varieties of wheat and rice were introduced. These were superior varieties of dwarf rice and dwarf wheat.

Note:
One thing to note down is that seed technology is also the carrier of new technologies. Various methods are used for producing genetically improved varieties of seeds. The seed technology does not only focus on producing seeds that would give better yield, but also seeds that would have a good resistance towards pests. Certain genes of Bacillus thuringiensis are introduced in crops like cotton that then develop resistance against nematodes.