The foundation's new donation will supplement its earlier donation of $1 million to Icrisat in 2002.
The endowment, which will also get matching funds from Icrisat, taking the total fund to $ 4 million, is specifically intended for research on crops for resource-poor farmers.
Icrisat is already using the endowment to improve resistance to downy mildew disease in bajra (pearl millet), and to grain mold and shootfly in jowar (sorghum).
Part of the new endowment will also be used to conduct research on sustainable management of natural resources in Gurgaon district of Haryana.
According to Suri Sehgal, the founder and chairman of Sehgal Foundation, research by Icrisat and other CGIAR centers had a tremendous impact on the welfare of farmers throughout the developing world.
Private sector seed companies had also been significant beneficiaries of this public sector research, he noted in a release here.
