Towards production of abiotic stress tolerant transgenic rice plants: issues, progress and future research needs

Rice is a vital crop for the entire world population. This crop constitutes the staple food for the inhabitants of the Asian countries. It is estimated that grain production in rice must be increased by 60% of the present value, to meet the demand which will be there at 2020 A.D. The increased rice production can play a significant role in upgrading the economic status of countries like India and China. In this context, it is notable that the grain yield of rice is not harvested in commensuration to its existing genetic potential in almost all rice- growing ecosystems. One of the major reasons behind this failure is the sensitivity of this crop to different stress factors in field-conditions. This is especially true for the abiotic stresses (particularly drought, submergence and salinity). The production of abiotic stress tolerant rice cultivars thus emerges as a priority issue. The areas of rice molecular biology and biotechnology have progressed appreciably in the past two decades and a number of different transgenic rice plants have already been developed. In this article, we assess the current status of raising rice tolerant to abiotic stresses and identify the research gaps which need to be filled up in this direction