New seed push targets cotton revival, productivity gains across crops
On the first day of 2026, India introduced 185 new seed varieties to boost agricultural productivity. This includes a focus on cotton, rice, and pulses, aiming to improve yields, stability, and reduce reliance on imports.
New Delhi: On the first day of 2026, the government released around 185 new high-yielding seed varieties and hybrids across crops such as rice, maize, cotton, millets, pulses, oilseeds and sugarcane, aimed at raising agricultural productivity by expanding access to quality seeds.
The move significantly expands the list of planting material—seeds, saplings and nursery plants—that can be legally produced and sold for agricultural use across the country.
Of the 185 varieties released on Thursday, cotton seeds accounted for around two dozen hybrids and varieties approved for sale across major cotton-growing states such as Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, and Haryana, according to a government order reviewed by Mint.
Agricultural experts said that the move could help ramp up foodgrain production, including pulses and other crops, by improving seed quality and farm-level productivity.
“Increasing productivity is critical if India has to meet future food demand without relying heavily on imports. Better seeds backed by strong research can help raise yields of pulses and other crops, stabilize supplies, and protect farmers from climate and market shocks," said Bimal Kothari, chairman of the India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA).
All the cotton varieties are still Bt-II hybrids, showing policy continuity without any new biotech traits, the order notified on Thursday said. Bt-II refers to the second-generation genetically modified cotton that contains Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) genes, which make the plant resistant to pests.
“Cotton farmers are already facing pressure from pests, rising costs and stagnant yields. If indigenously developed hybrid seeds can genuinely help increase production and perform as effectively as genetically modified seeds, it would be a welcome initiative. However, their real test will be how well they control pests and withstand disease pressure in actual field conditions," said Ganesh Nanote, a cotton farmer from Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region.
India is the world's second-largest producer of cotton after China. The introduction of new hybrid seeds is aimed at increasing cotton production, which has declined in recent years, and strengthening India’s position as a global sourcing destination for textiles.
“Increasing cotton productivity is also important as India has launched its own brand, Kasturi Cotton. Due to the decline in productivity, especially in extra-long staple (ELS) cotton, the brand currently remains dependent on imported cotton to meet quality and quantity requirements," said Binod Anand, a member of the Union agriculture ministry’s MSP (Minimum Support Price) committee.
According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) data, global cotton production in the 2024–25 marketing year was around 121 million bales (each weighing 480 pounds or about 218kg). China produced about 32 million bales, accounting for 27% of global output, while India produced about 24 million bales, or roughly 20%.
Indian government data, which reports production in Indian bales of 170kg, places India’s cotton output at 29 million bales, keeping the country the second-largest cotton producer globally after China.
“The new seed varieties will help increase productivity by 20–30% once they reach farmers’ fields. These varieties have been indigenously developed and will help improve the production of cotton, pulses and other food crops, thereby reducing import dependence. For crops that are exported, higher production will also create additional export opportunities in the coming years," said Anand Vishwakarma, project coordinator, All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Sesame and Niger, Jabalpur.
Notably, no herbicide-tolerant (HT) cotton varieties have been notified, underscoring the government’s consistent position against allowing HT traits for commercial cultivation, amid concerns over weed resistance, regulatory misuse and environmental impact.
According to a senior government official, the focus in cotton is on yield stability, regional adaptability and pest resistance already permitted under existing approvals, rather than introducing new or controversial traits. The notification allows seed companies to scale up certified production of approved Bt-II hybrids, while keeping herbicide tolerance outside the regulatory framework, signalling that enforcement and compliance remain key policy priorities in the cotton sector.
“The release of these seeds does not mean that quality agricultural input material will be available to farmers immediately. It typically takes around three years for newly notified varieties to reach farmers, as seed companies and public agencies must first undertake breeder, foundation and certified seed multiplication before large-scale commercial distribution can begin," the official said.
Beyond cotton, the notification covers around 60 rice varieties and hybrids, making rice the largest crop group by numbers, followed by more than 50 maize hybrids, including biofortified, baby corn and sweet corn varieties recommended for plains, hill regions and tribal belts. The emphasis across cereals is on high-yielding hybrids, biofortification and location-specific suitability, rather than chemical tolerance.
Pulses also feature in the notification, though in smaller numbers compared with cereals and cotton. The government has notified around a dozen pulse varieties, including black gram (urad), green gram (moong), chickpea and groundnut-linked varieties, recommended for states such as Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Bihar, as well as islands like the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Officials said the pulse varieties focus on yield improvement and adaptability, particularly for rain-fed and region-specific cultivation, supporting the broader objective of reducing import dependence and improving domestic protein availability.
Several maize varieties are biofortified for nutritional value, while millets and sorghum varieties are targeted at climate resilience and drought tolerance, aligning with India’s nutri-cereal strategy. Oilseeds such as mustard, sesame, niger and safflower, along with sugarcane and jute, have been notified with an emphasis on local agro-climatic performance rather than trait-based modification.
In the Union Budget 2024-2025, the government had announced the release of 109 new high-yielding and climate-resilient varieties of 32 field and horticulture crops.
According to the government's third advance estimates of crop production for 2024–25 released in September 2025, India achieved record foodgrain output of about 353.96 million tonnes, including rice at around 149.07 million tonnes and wheat at 117.51 million tonnes.
Kharif crop estimates for 2025–26, released in November 2025, show total pulses production of around 7.413 million tonnes, with tur (arhar) at 3.597 million tonnes, urad at 1.205 million tonnes and moong at 1.720 million tonnes. Total cotton production is estimated at about 29.215 million bales, with one bale equal to 170kg.
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