BSIP study sets pollen size thresholds to trace early farming in the Ganga Plain
Scientists at the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences have set a 'paired biometric threshold' to tell cereal pollen from wild grass pollen, helping reconstruct the history of farming in the Central Ganga Plain, DST said on 6 April 2026.
Summary
The Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP), an autonomous institution of the Department of Science and Technology, has developed a way to distinguish pollen of cultivated cereals from that of wild grasses, DST said on 6 April 2026. Cereals such as wheat, rice, barley and millets belong to the grass family Poaceae, whose pollen looks very similar to that of wild grasses. In what DST calls a first-of-its-kind study from India, BSIP scientists and collaborators analysed 22 cereal and non-cereal species from the Central Ganga Plain using light microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy. The study, published in The Holocene (SAGE), sets a 'paired biometric threshold': cereal pollen generally exceeds 46 µm in grain diameter and 9 µm in annulus size (pearl millet is an exception), while wild grasses fall below these values. Pollen preserved in sediments can reveal past agriculture, deforestation and settlement during the Holocene, the last 11,700 years.
Key facts
- Institute
- Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (DST)
- Region
- Central Ganga Plain
- Species studied
- 22 cereal and non-cereal grasses
- Threshold
- Cereal pollen >46 µm grain, >9 µm annulus (except pearl millet)
- Journal
- The Holocene (SAGE)
- Holocene
- Last 11,700 years
Practice MCQs 2 questions
Scientists from which institution developed the 'paired biometric threshold' to distinguish cereal pollen from wild grass pollen in the Central Ganga Plain?
Show answer
Correct answer: B — Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences
DST said the study was by scientists from the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP), an autonomous institution of DST, with collaborators.
Consider the following statements about the BSIP pollen study released in April 2026: 1. Cereal pollen generally exceeds 46 µm in grain diameter and 9 µm in annulus size, pearl millet being an exception. 2. The study was published in the journal Nature. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Show answer
Correct answer: A — 1 only
Statement 1 is the threshold reported by DST. Statement 2 is wrong: the study was published in The Holocene (SAGE).