ICAR-NBPGR Regional Station, Akola

Officer Incharge: Dr. Sunil Shriram Gomashe
Contact Numbers: 0724-2258816, 2558067
Address: ICAR-NBPGR Regional Station Akola, Opp. PKV Campus, Akola – 444104, Maharashtra, INDIA
E-mail: nbpgr.akola@icar.gov.in
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Mandate

The Regional Station, Akola was established in November 1977 in Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth  (Dr PDKV) Campus at Akola.  It is situated in 20043’ North Lattitude  and 77004’East Longitude. Akola is situated in semi-arid zone at an altitude of 281 meters above sea level.  The area is characterized with black cotton soil derived mostly from basalt rocks. The average rainfall is between 750 to 900 mm, which is received from south-western monsoon in the month of June to September.

The prime mandate of this Regional Station is to explore, collect, evaluate, maintain and conserve the plant genetic resources of different agri-horticultural crops of the Central India region i.e. Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, parts of Gujarat, Karnataka, Goa, Daman & Diu.

Salient Achievements

Germplasm exploration and collection

A total of 13045 accessions of  germplasm were collected from parts of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and adjoining areas of Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and West and South Tripura region. It includes cereals and pseudo cereals (738), millets and minor millets (1446), pulses (3117), oilseeds (1983), bulb crops (556), vegetables and tuber crops (2366), fodder crops (52),  fibre crops (144), horticultural crops (1451), medicinal and aromatic plants (76), Crop Wild relatives (572), Mango and minor fruits (41), spices (14), dye yielding (02), ornamental (01) and others (486).

Germplasm evaluation and documentation

This station has been engaged in morpho-agronomic characterization and preliminary evaluation of mandate crops. A total of 47905 accessions of different crops have been evaluated which includes wheat (236), finger millet (4989), foxtail millet (1943), barnyard millet (996), little millet (794), proso millet (438), kodo millet (712), soybean (2656), pigeon pea (2383), chickpea (2466), horse gram (1722), green gram (48), black gram (70), lentil (651), grass pea (347), sesame (6331), safflower (4029), groundnut (647), niger (1597), castor (1105), linseed (3412), amaranth (4742), vegetable amaranth (85), okra (3035), chilli (700), winged bean (955), wild okra (458) and wild sesame [S. malabricum (358)].

Publication of crop catalogues: The data recorded for characterization were processed for publication of crop catalogues and several crop catalogues were published viz., french bean (1981), soybean (1983), okra part III (1993), sesame (1993), soybean (1993), linseed (1993), safflower (1995), horse gram (1995), wild okra (1995) and green gram (1996). Donor sources and promising accessions were identified in different crops.

Joint evaluation programme

The germplasm of ICRISAT mandate crops viz. pigeonpea (3450), chickpea (6100), groundnut (5500), sorghum (5400), and pearl millet (100) were evaluated for a set of characters under NBPGR/ICRISAT joint evaluation programme.  Initially this was for five years i.e. 1986-1991 but extended for another five years till 1996. Multi-locational crop catalogues on sorghum, pigeon pea, chickpea and groundnut have also been published by ICAR-NBPGR, New Delhi under NBPGR/ICRISAT joint Evaluation programme for the year 1986-87.

Maintenance of wild relatives of crop plants

A total of 614 accessions comprising sesame (150), safflower (80), okra (373), foxtail millet (08) and soybean (03) were grown for maintenance. Species-wise details includes Abelmoschus angulosus (11), Abelmoschus ficulneus (59), Abelmoschus moschatus (107), Abelmoschus pungens (06), Abelmoschus tetraphyllus (121), Abelmoschus tuberculatus (69), Carthamus glaucus (01), Carthamus lanatus (04), Carthamus palastinus (09), Carthamus tenuis (02), Carthamus lanatus sub-sp. Turkestanicus (10), Carthamus species (05), Carthamus species wild type (49), Glycine latifolia (01), Glycine tabacina (01), Glycine curvata (01), Setaria incrassata (02), setaria sphacelata (06) and  Sesame wild  (150) are being maintained at the station.

Germplasm conservation

A total of 34360 germplasm accessions of different crops viz. cereals (57), sorghum and millets (6488), pulses (12510), oil seeds (13589), vegetables (1191), potential crops (885), wild relatives of crop plants (335), fibre crops (26) and miscellaneous (96) were sent to National Gene Bank at NBPGR, New Delhi for long term storage. The crop-wise details are mentioned. Paddy (57), Sorghum (1084), Finger millet (2023), Foxtail millet (1360), Barnyard millet (268), Kodo millet (683), Little millet (514), Pearl millet (12), Japanese millet (316), Proso millet (228), Chick pea (6614), Pigeon pea (4603),  Horse gram (1001) black gram (22), Moth bean (04), green gram (21), Cowpea (05), and grass pea (240). Soybean (2649), Sesame [cult.] (2747), Sesame [core] (311), Safflower (2184), Niger (852), Ground nut (3188), Castor (259), Sunflower (10), Linseed (1389), Okra (1170), Lima bean (19), Sword bean (2), Winged bean (68) and Grain amaranth (285).

Medium term storage of germplasm

A total of 20,838 accessions of various crops/species comprising oilseeds (10452), pulses (4687), vegetables (2034), potential crops (1399), millets (1536) and wild relatives of crop plants (730) are being maintained under controlled conditions in the medium term storage of the Station at Akola.

Seed distribution

Supply of germplasm has been an important activity of this Regional Station. A total of 62420 accessions of various crops have been supplied to indenters all over India as well as abroad.

Field Day/ Visit organized

A total of 27 field days were organized at Regional station, Akola/Satellite Centre, Amravati. Scientists from various Universities, ICAR institutes and seed companies participated for joint screening of germplasm. Conducted six biodiversity farmers fair in tribal areas and farmer’s field. Field visit of the delegates of International Regional workshop on sesame was organized on 28th-30th September, 1993. The participants were from China, Nepal, Israel, Bangladesh, Italy, Singapore, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and India.

Awards/Honours

  • Dr. Nilamani Dikshit, Scientist (Selection Grade) Received the Men of the SRC Award for presentation during the SRC meeting held at NBPGR, New Delhi during May 2003
  • Dr. Nilamani Dikshit, Senior Scientist awarded Fellow of the Indian Society of Plant Genetic Resources for outstanding contribution in the field of Plant Genetic Resources for the year 2013.
  • Dr. N Dikshit, Senior Scientist conferred the Fellow award of the Environmental Research Academy International, Visakhapatnam for outstanding contribution in the field of Plant Genetic Resources on 1st June 2014.
  •  Dr. Dinesh Chand, Senior Scientist awarded as Fellow of the Environmental Research Academy International, Visakhapatnam for significant contribution in the field of Plant Pathology on 1st March 2015.
  • Best Poster Award for the paper entital “Rapid and sensitive detection of Seed-borne pathogen Colletrichum capsici in Capsicum anmum using Loop-mediated isothermal Amplification Assay.” By A.Kandan, J. Akhtar, B. Singh, D. Pal, Dinesh Chand  and P.C. Agarwal . In 6th  Indian Horticulture Congress -2014 “Horticulture for Inclusive growth”- An International Event held on November 6-9, 2014, at CODISSIA Trade Fair Complex, Coimbatore.

Major Activities

  • Collection of germplasm comprising landraces and wild relatives of crops from Central India region i.e. Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, parts of Gujarat, Karnataka, Goa, Daman & Diu and documentation of passport information.
  • Characterization of germplasm of Pulses (green gram, black gram, horsegram, pigeonpea, chickpea, lathyrus), Oilseeds (sesame, niger, castor, safflower, linseed), Millets (sorghum, barnyard millet, foxtail millet, finger millet, kodo millet, little millet, proso millet), Okra, Potential crops (winged bean and grain amaranth) and wild relatives of crop plants; and documentation of the generated data.
  • Ex-situ conservation of germplasm of various crops and their wild relatives in the field gene bank/ seed gene bank and their deposit in the National Gene Bank in a phased manner.
  • Supply of germplasm to user agencies under Material Transfer Agreement (MTA)
  • PGR awareness education to school and college students, farmers, general public and tribal communities through field days, tribal biodiversity fairs, state and national level Agro-Exhibitions.
  • Co-ordination of PGR activities in the Central India with the active support of SAUs, State Biodiversity Boards, crop-based institutes of ICAR and State Department of Agriculture.
  • Utilization of elite germplasm through information dissemination in the region.

Publications/Research Papers

2019
1.  Chinapolaiah A, Dinesh Chand, V Thondaiman, MK Mittal, RD Parthvee, P Manivel and Satyanshu Kumar (2019). Exploration, collection and conservation of Gymnema sylvestre germplasm from different parts of India.. J Pharmacogn Phytochem., 8 (4): 38-45.
2.  Dikshit N, N Sivaraj, Sunanda Dikshit, V Kamala, Dinesh Chand and Sunil Gomashe (2019). In-Situ assessment of Morpho-physiological traits and ecological niche modeling studies on Sesamum mulayanum Nair.. Intl..J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci., 8(4):: 1179 – 1189.
2018
1.  Dinesh Chand, N Dikshit, N Sivaraj, SS Gomashe and MA Nizar (2018). Diversity assessment in Abelmoschus tuberculatus : A DIVA-GIS Study.. J. Environ. Biol., 39:: 426-431
2.  Gomashe SS, N Dikshit, Dinesh Chand and SN Shingane (2018). Assessment of Genetic Diversity Using Morpho-Agronomical Traits in Horse Gram.. Intl..J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci., 7(5):: 2095-2103.
2017
1.  Dinesh Chand, Nilamani Dikshit, Sunil Shriram Gomashe, M. Elangovan and M. Y. Samdur (2017). Assessment of morphological diversity among the dual purpose sorghum landraces collected from tribal districts of northern Maharashtra.. Management & Agroforestry, 38 (2):: 199-207.
2.  Dinesh Chand, S Gomashe, N Dikshit, Wandhare MR (2017). Assessment of yield stability in horse gram (Macrotyloma uniflorum).. Multilogic in Science., 7:: 223-227.
3.  Dinesh Chand, J. Akhtar, Nilamani Dikshit S.S. Gomashe., M. Malik (2017). Glycine latifolia- A New Host Record of Colletotrichum capsici.. Journal of New Biological Reports., 6 (1):: 33-36.
4.  Nizar, M. A, N Dikshit, N Sivaraj, D Chand (2017). Diversity analysis in grass pea Lathyrus sativus L.) germplasm in India using DIVA-GIS approach.. International Journal of Agriculture & Statistical Sciences., 13 (2):: 473-482 .
5.  N Dikshit, D Chand, S Gomashe, S Shingane (2017). Cajanus platycarpus – an addition to the flora of Akola district, Maharashtra.. Journal of New Biological Reports, 6 (1):: 58-62.
6.  Dinesh Chand, Jameel Akhtar, N. Dikshit, Sunil Shriram Gomashe and Monika Malik (2017). Glycine latifolia- A New Host Record of Colletotrichum capsici.. J. New Biol. Reports, 6 (1):: 33-36.
7.  Gomashe, S. S. (2017). Proso Millet, Panicum miliaceum (L.): Genetic Improvement and Research Needs, in Millets and Sorghum: Biology and Genetic Improvement (ed J. V. Patil),. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK., doi: 10.1002/9781119130765.ch5:
8.  Gomashe, S. S. (2017). Barnyard Millet: Present Status and Future Thrust Areas, in Millets and Sorghum: Biology and Genetic Improvement (ed J. V. Patil),. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK., doi: 10.1002/9781119130765.ch7: 
2016
1.  Kumar Sandeep, N Dikshit, Mohar Singh and JC Rana (2016). Foxtail millet and barnyard millet. In: Singh Mohar and Kumar, Sandeep (Eds.) Broadening the Genetic Base of Grain Cereals.. Springer India 2016, Pp 257-275. ISBN 978-81-322-3163-9:

Projects

Inhouse Projects
Programme Project Title Leader and Associates Project Code
1.1 Augmentation, characterization, evaluation, maintenance, regeneration, conservation and documentation of genetic resources in the Central Indian Plains Dinesh Chand PGR/GEV-BUR-AKO-01.00
1.1.1 Augmentation, characterization, evaluation, maintenance, regeneration, conservation and documentation of genetic resources of cereals, pulses (pigeon pea and chickpea), vegetables (okra) and Potential crops (winged bean and amaranth) Dinesh Chand, Sunil S. Gomashe PGR/GEV-BUR-AKO-01.01
1.1.2 Augmentation, characterization, evaluation, maintenance, regeneration, conservation and documentation of genetic resources of oil seeds (sesame, niger, castor, groundnut, safflower, soybean and linseed), millets and small millets Sunil S. Gomashe, Dinesh Chand PGR/GEV-BUR-AKO-01.02

Staff

Officer-In-Charge
Dr. Sunil Shriram Gomashe
ICAR-NBPGR RS, Akola
Phone:
Email: sunil.gomashe(AT)icar.gov.in, sunilgomashe(AT)gmail.com
Upper Divisional Clerk (UDC)
Mrs. Smita Dadarao Karale
ICAR-NBPGR RS, Akola
Phone:
Email: smita3k(AT)gmail.com
Technician
Mr. Rakesh Lathar
ICAR-NBPGR RS, Akola
Phone:
Email: rakesh.lathar(AT)icar.gov.in
Skilled Supporting Staff
Mr. Rajkumar Panjabrao Barse
ICAR-NBPGR RS, Akola
Phone:
Email: Rajkumar.Barse(AT)icar.gov.in
Skilled Supporting Staff
Mr. Mukund Babarao Nikose
ICAR-NBPGR RS, Akola
Phone:
Email: Mukund.Nikose(AT)icar.gov.in
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