The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre’s (BARC) nuclear technique for agriculture, particularly in creating new genetic variability in crop plants has been a success. Radiation and chemical-induced mutation and subsequent use in recombination breeding at BARC has, till date, resulted in the release of 39 improved crop varieties in oilseeds and pulses. The key beneficiary of BARC’s initiatives is the University of Agriculture Sciences (UAS) Dharwad. Through a collaborative effort with BARC, UAS-Dharwad has been able to solve a few long-standing problems such as seed multiplication of popular ‘Trombay’ groundnut varieties. After the intervention, the Trombay groundnut has successfully entered the seed chain in many parts of Karnataka due to large-scale breeder seed production by UAS Dharwad. “This variety can be of immense benefit to the farming community. I must compliment UAS Dharwad for taking up large-scale multiplication of our mutant varieties in order to offer quality seeds to farmers,” Ratan Kumar Sinha, Director, BARC, Mumbai, recently said. According to R.R. Hinchinal, Vice-Chancellor UAS Dharwad, “Currently, we have projects going on with BARC on multiplex for bio-fertiliser.” Similarly, BARC has also worked on pulses like blackgram, greengram and pigeon pea. The mutant varieties have not only benefited the farming community, but are being used as genetic resource material in national/State breeding programmes. “Several of our pulses varieties have early maturity, resistance to diseases and suitability for residual moisture situations in rice fallows. These varieties are very popular in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu,” said Sinha. While enhancing the agricultural production system itself is a challenge, the problems are compounded by post-harvest losses due to microbial spoilage, insect infestation etc, which add up to 10-30 per cent, depending on the commodity. “We not only need to increase our agricultural productivity, but also focus our attention on post-harvest management of our agricultural produce. Post-harvest technology, for conservation and value addition, is going to play an increasingly important role in the new world order. Radiation processing is one of the upcoming methods to achieve this,” said Sinha. Radiation processing of various foods and food-products involves controlled application of the energy of radiation, such as gamma rays, X-rays and accelerated electrons. This kills pathogens and storage pests. This processing is used for sprout inhibition in bulbs and tubers, delayed ripening of fruits, shelf-life extension of sea-foods, meat and meat products, hygienisation of spices and for quarantine purpose, said Sinha. He further added that “Radiation processing can also be used for non-food products like cut flowers, health foods, herbal and ayurvedic preparations, cattle feed, pet foods and packaging material. It is an eco-friendly alternative to fumigants, which are being banned and phased out due to their deleterious effects on human health and environment.”