The GM rubber plant, is expected to grow well in the climatic conditions of the region,this kind of plant is developed exclusively for the northeast. on Tuesday, it was planted on the outskirts of Guwahati. It’s the world’s first genetically modified (GM) rubber plant.
The Plant has developed at the Kerala-based Rubber Research Institute of India (RRII), the sapling was planted by Rubber Board chairman and executive director KN Raghavan at the board’s farm in Sarutari near Guwahati. It is expected to revolutionise natural rubber production in India .It contains additional copies of gene MnSOD (manganese containing superoxide dismutase) in it.
Rubber Board chairman and executive director KN Raghavan said that during winters the plant is expected to tide over severe cold conditions a major factor can affect the plant of growing as natural rubber is a native of warm humid Amazon forests and is not naturally suited for cold conditions in the northeast.
Commercial planting would be taken up later, depending on the results of the experiments conducted at the farm.