High Yielding Varieties (HYVs) - Practice Questions & MCQ

• After India’s independence, one of the main challenges facing the country was that of producing enough food for the increasing population. As only limited land is fit for cultivation, India has to strive to increase yields per unit area from existing farmland. 
• The development of several high yielding varieties of wheat and rice in the mid-1960s, as a result of various plant breeding techniques, led to a dramatic increase in food production in our country. 
• This phase is often referred to as the Green Revolution.

Wheat and Rice:

• During the period 1960 to 2000, wheat production increased from 11 million tones to 75 million tonnes while rice production went up from 35 million tonnes to 89.5 million tonnes.
• This was due to the development of semi-dwarf varieties of wheat and rice. 
• Wheat varieties:
  •  Sonalika & Kalyan Sona (HYVs and disease resistant) 
• Rice varieties:
  • Semi-dwarf rice varieties were derived from IR-8 (developed at International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines) and Taichung Native-1 (from Taiwan).
  • Later better-yielding semi dwarf varieties Jaya and Ratna were developed in India.

Sugarcane:

• Saccharum barberi was originally grown in north India, but had poor sugar content and yield. 
• Tropical canes grown in south India Saccharum officinarum had thicker stems and higher sugar content but did not grow well in north India. 
• These two species were successfully crossed to get sugarcane varieties combining the desirable qualities of high yield, thick stems, high sugar and ability to grow in the sugar cane areas of north India.

Millets:

• Hybrid maize, jowar and bajra have been successfully developed in India. 
• Hybrid breeding has led to the development of several high yielding varieties resistant to water stress.