Around 150 agricultural researchers from around the globe have converged on Hyderabad to discuss ways of putting to use the diverse genetic material preserved in various gene banks.
The five-day meet starting on Wednesday and hosted by the International Crops Research Institute for Semi Arid Tropics (Icrisat) is part of the second phase (2009-13) of Generation Challenge Programme (GCP) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.
Jean-Marcel Ribaud, director, GCP, said the second phase would see more projects being led by the user country partners while the developed country partners take a back seat as mentors and collaborators. He added that he looked forward to India's active participation in the programme.
At present, around six million samples of genetic material are preserved in 1,400 gene banks across the world. These are expected to be used by crop breeders to develop plant varieties that can better adapt to changing environmental conditions and benefit farmers in drought-prone and harsh environments. However, less than one percent of these have been used by breeders so far.
In India, the GCP has focused on drought-tolerant maize, wheat and chickpea. Overall, the programme works on 18 crops intended for use in 17 countries in Asia and Africa. The programme is funded by $15 million annual budget.
Swapan Datta, deputy director general, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, said India should give high priority to the project as the future of agriculture had got to be based on science and technology.
“India should take a lead role. We have 300,000 germplasms which can accelerate the development of new crop varieties. But agricultural manpower is a problem. We should involve more young scientists who are comfortable with bioinformatics,” he said.
On the status of biofortified ‘golden rice’, Datta said the international partners were not forthcoming with the requisite permission for using the material. Given the freedom from restrictions, India would see golden rice introduced in two years, he said.