A research collaboration between NBFGR and IIT Delhi has created salt-tolerant rice using CRISPR gene editing. The new strain can grow in fields with up to 8 dS/m soil salinity—common in coastal and degraded lands. Trials in Odisha and West Bengal yield over 70% of normal varieties under saline irrigation. The variety has potential to reclaim 1 million hectares of unproductive coastal land and improve food security in climate-affected regions.