International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in collaboration with he Indian government?s department of biotechnology (DBT) has planned to establish a Center of Excellence in Genomics. This centre is slated to be set up at ICRISAT?s complex located in Patencheru in Andhra Pradesh. DBT will provide the necessary financial support.
According to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by ICRISAT director-general William D Dar and DBT secretary MK Bhan, the project will strengthen the existing molecular breeding facilities at ICRISAT to a high throughput, cost-effective facility, which can be used for crop improvement research. The facility is expected to be fully operational over the course of the year 2007. The project will also be open to researchers from other agricultural research institutes.
The project will provide high-throughput, low-cost, allele detection platforms, to help in molecular-marker assisted selection and breeding, access to large-scale field screening for abiotic stresses, such as drought and salinity, biometrics (agricultural statistics) and bioinformatics support, fellowships and training courses for scientists and students from the Indian institutes in the use of high-throughput methods in breeding and research.
According to Dar, the partnership with DBT will help in improving agricultural productivity using improved tools cost-effectively. This will help in alleviating the poverty of smallholder farmers in the dryland areas of India and the rest of the developing world.
He said that the project would be a model of growth for enhancing South-South cooperation, since its results will be beneficial for India and other developing countries where ICRISAT works. It will provide new technological options, build capacity of scientists and also accelerate crop improvement by reducing the time required to develop new varieties by half.
DBT secretary MK Bhan said that the partnership is significant since it links international research and national research. As a partner, ICRISAT understands the national goals in India and also has the ability to share the products of research with other developing countries.