Low Gossypol Containing Cottonseed: Not only a Fibre but also a Food Crop
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Low Gossypol Containing Cottonseed: Not only a Fibre but also a Food Crop Rajendra Prasad1 • D. Blaise2
Ó The National Academy of Sciences, India 2020
Abstract We achieved self-sufficiency in food grains but are still deficient in pulses and oilseeds production. Cottonseed is a good source of quality oil and is rich in protein. But the presence of gossypol in the seed makes it toxic for human consumption. Therefore, low gossypol cultivars were developed either through genetic modification or screening and conventional breeding techniques. Texas A&M University patented the genetically modified ultralow gossypol (\ 450 mg kg-1) cultivar—TAM66274. Our breeders developed cultivars with gossypol content as low as 1100 mg kg-1 using conventional breeding techniques. Cottonseed meal, after oil extraction, can be used as a protein supplement similar to soybean. Cotton breeders need to screen the available germplasm and cultivars for low gossypol as well as high oil and fibre productivity. Thus, developing low and ultra-low gossypol cultivars will be a boon to our country. Keywords Bacillus thuringiensis Gossypol Gossypium spp. oilseeds Pulses Transgenic
Cereals, especially, rice and wheat are the staple in Indian diet and pulses the main protein source. Therefore, after attaining Independence in 1947, India’s first effort was to produce adequate amount of cereals to alleviate hunger. The success came with the introduction and large scale & D. Blaise [email protected] 1
Ex ICAR National Professor, Department of Agronomy, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India
2
Department of Crop Production, ICAR-Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur, Maharashtra 441108, India
cultivation of fertilizer responsive dwarf Mexican varieties of wheat from CIMMYT, Mexico, generally referred to as Green Revolution [1] and fertilizer responsive semi-dwarf varieties of rice from Taiwan and the International Rice Research Institute, Philippines [2]. India is now self-sufficient in cereals, which supplies 66.3% energy, 61.2% of protein and 16.5% of fat requirements of people, while as a contrast the contribution of pulses is only 22.1% in energy, 21.2% in protein and 2.2% in fat requirements of people [3]. ‘‘Dal-roti’’ (bean soup and chapatti or unleavened bread) or ‘‘sambhar-rice’’ (bean soup and rice) is the poor man’s food in India, but we are still deficient in pulses (beans) and edible oil production. To overcome this problem the Technology Mission on Oilseeds was launched by the Central Government in 1986 to increase oilseed production in order to reduce import and achieve selfsufficiency in edible oils. Subsequently, pulses, oil palm and maize were also brought within the purview of the Mission in 1990–1991, 1992 and 1995–1996, respectively. This helped increase oilseed production from 10.8 MT in 1985–1986 to 18.2 MT in 1988–1989 and further to 22.7 MT in 2017–2018. While the production increased, consumption of edible oil has more than doubled in the past 15 years; from
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