Consortium Research Platform on Agrobiodiversity

Scheme Coordinator: Dr Gyanendra Pratap Singh, Director
Contact Number:+ 91-11 -25843697
Address: ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources Pusa Campus, New Delhi – 110012, INDIA
E-mail: director.nbpgr(AT)icar.gov.in; gp.singh(AT)icar.gov.in

Lead Centre Platform Coordinator (LCPC):
Dr Sushil Pandey
Contact Number:+ 91-11 -25802703
Address: ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources Pusa Campus, New Delhi – 110012, INDIA
E-mail: sushil.pandey(AT)icar.gov.in

Dy. Lead Centre Platform Coordinator (Dy. LCPC): Dr. Jyoti Kumari, Principal Scientist
Contact Number: 011-25802851 
Address: ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources Pusa Campus, New Delhi – 110012, INDIA
E-mail: jyoti.kumari@icar.gov.in 

Background of the Scheme

Agrobiodiversity occupies a unique place within biodiversity. It recognises that agriculture evolved from bioprospecting, selection and development of a few species from plant and animal kingdoms, to meet human needs of food, fibre and fuel. All biotic factors related to agriculture, such as, plants, animals, fish, microbes and insects. The conservation, management and sustainable use of these organisms (and their wild progenitors/relatives) require focussed attention to conserve, characterize, and evaluate to identify trait-specific germplasm in major crops, animals and fishes which will be used to develop new climate resilient varieties/breeds/strains to improve the livelihood of farmers and increase their income. The CRP on Agrobiodiversity of ICAR is, therefore, being implemented since XIIth Plan. During 2014-17, the CRP on Agrobiodiversity of ICAR was implemented with seven sub-projects addressing management of genetic resources of plants, animals, fish, microbes, insects, veterinary type culture collection and documentation of fungal biodiversity (fungal barcoding). During the next phase of 2017-21, three sub-projects addressing the management of genetic resources of plants, animals and fishes were continued with three sub-projects addressing management of genetic resources of major food crops, endangered animals, and ornamental fish. The ICAR-NBPGR will coordinate this scheme and respective Bureaus will implement with the help of national partners/centres of National agricultural Research System (NARS). During 2021-26, it was suggested and decided that for sustainable management of Agrobiodiversity, all National Bureaus should be brought together on the same platform and hence Microbe and Insect component which were originally part of the scheme during XII plan were included for implementation along with Plant, Animal and Fish genetic resources.

Mandate

Management of Genetic Resources of plants, animals, fish, microbes and agriculturally important insects. The research work being carried out under the CRP on Agrobiodiversity is an integral part of the on-going research in the lead institute of each of the sub-projects, namely, NBPGR (Plants), NBAGR (Animal), NBFGR (Fish), NBAIM (Microbes) and NBAIR (Insects).

Objectives of the Scheme

Sub-project 1. Characterization, trait specific evaluation and utilization of plant genetic resources of selected crops (NBPGR)
  1. To undertake regeneration of selected crops to have enough seed quantity for long-term storage in NGB and maintenance as active collection at designated NAG Sites.
  2. To undertake characterization and preliminary evaluation of the germplasm of selected crops to for development of reference sets of germplasm collections.
  3. To evaluate the germplasm of selected crops for biotic and abiotic stresses under multilocation testing, and supply trait specific desired germplasm to respective breeders (conventional and molecular) and other researchers in NARS.
  4. Utilization of crop wild relatives and selected landraces for biotic, abiotic stresses and quality parameters for development of interspecific derivatives for sharing of early generation population with collaborators.
Sub-project 2. Conservation of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR)
  1. Somatic cell repository of remaining 184 registered livestock breeds.
Sub-project 3. Aquaculture for Conservation and Nutritional Security: On Farm Evaluation of Prioritized Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR)
  1. To evaluate prioritised indigenous fish germplasm for conservation aquaculture
  2. To develop propagation protocols for selective indigenous fish species for livelihood and nutritional security
  3. To popularize and promote new species for aquaculture diversification and address region specific problems
Sub-project 4. Development of Core Collection of Agriculturally Important Microorganisms involved in Sustenance of Under-Utilized Crops in different AEZs (NBAIM)
  1. To study the diversity of AIMs in the rhizosphere of under-utilized crops from selected agro-ecological regions
  2. To develop a core collection of AIMs involved in nutrient cycling and disease management
  3. To evaluate potential AIMs on major cultivated crops
Sub-project 5. Collection, Characterization and Conservation of Agriculturally Important insects in agro-ecosystems (NBAIR)
  1. Collection, characterization, assessment and quantification of pestiferous and beneficial species of insects in selected agro-ecosystems viz., Rice, Maize, Red gram and Tomato under different crop management pressures
  2. Development of base line information on crop specific insect faunal diversity including both aerial and soil organisms
  3. Development of strategies/methods for in situ and ex situ conservation of beneficial insects to enhance/maximize the agricultural productivity
  4. Identification of arthropod biodiversity hotspots, cataloguing and mapping of the insect resources using geo-tagging

Activities for 2021-2026 (PGR Component)

Component-I: National Network on PGR Management (NBPGR and NAGS partners) (PGR Characterisation, multiplication and supply)
Sl. No. Crop Name of the Centre No. Of accessions/year
1 Rice NRRI, Cuttack IGKV Raipur 4000 4000
2 Pigeonpea AICRIP, Kanpur ARS Gulbarga SDAU, SK Nagar 400 400 400
3 Millets* IIMR, Hyderabad (AICRP Centres/SAU) 5000
4 Brinjal IIVR, Varanasi IIHR, Bengaluru 400 400
5 Cucumber IIVR, Varanasi IIHR, Bengaluru IARI, New Delhi 100 100 100
6 Medicinal plants# DMAPR, Anand 100
7 Forage crops IGFRI, Jhansi 1000
* Characterization of sorghum, finger millet and minor millets and development of core sets will be taken up during 2022-2026 at AICRP Centres. # To be taken up during first two years.
Component-II: PGR Evaluation and Use (NBPGR and AICRPs)  
S. No. Crops (Centres) Traits (No. of Experiments) Name of the centers No. of Acc./year
1 Maize Turcicum leaf blight IIMR, Ludhiana; UAS, Mandya; CSK HPKV, Bajaura; UAS, Dharwad 500
Sorghum downy mildew UAS, Mandya 500
Banded Leaf and Sheath Blight   IIMR, New Delhi; GBPUA&T, Pantnagar; BCKV, Kalyani; ANGRAU, Peddapuram; PAU, Ludhiana 500
Charcoal Rot PAU, Ludhiana; NBPGR, RS Hyderabad 500
Quality traits IARI, New Delhi; IIMR, Ludhiana; NBPGR, New Delhi 500
2 Lentil Wilt RAK, Sehore; IIPR, Kanpur 500
Root rot BCKV, Kalyani; IARI, New Delhi 500
3 Brassica Sclerotinia rot PAU, Ludhiana; DRMR, Bharatpur 1000
Orobranche SKN RAU, Jobner; DRMR, Bharatpur; CSAU&T, Kanpur 1000
4 Finger millet Leaf, neck and finger blast ZARS, Mandya; VPKAS, Almora; ARS, Vizianagaram; 2000
5 Cucumber and Tomato Downy mildew IIVR, Varanasi; IIHR, Bengaluru; IARI, New Delhi 200
Nematode AICRP-Nematode, TNAU, Coimbatore; NBPGR, New Delhi 200
  Component-III: Trait discovery and pre breeding in selected crops (NBPGR and AICRPs)  
Crop Activity Centres
Wheat
  • Development and evaluation of RIL population for grain protein content.
  • Identification and validation of linked markers/QTLs for grain protein content based on SSR or SNP genotyping.
  • Evaluation of tetraploid and diploid wheat species for grain protein content and rust resistance to identify donor germplasm for improvement of hexaploid wheat
  • Evaluation of tetraploid wheat species for fusarium head blight
 IIWBR, Karnal; IARI-RS, Wellington; PAU, Ludhiana; NBPGR, New Delhi  
Okra
  • Evaluation and validation of okra wild species for OYVMD and OELCD
  • Evaluation of crosses between cultivated and wild species of okra for OYVMD and OELCD
  • Utilization of identified materials for improving adapted cultivars
 IIVR, Varanasi; PAU, Ludhiana; NBPGR, New Delhi  
Chickpea
  • Evaluation and validation of Cicer wild species and cultivated types for Aschochyta blight
  • Evaluation of crosses between cultivated and wild species
  • Utilization of identified materials for improving adapted cultivars
 IIPR, Kanpur; PAU, Ludhiana; NBPGR, New Delhi  
Tomato
  • Screening of cultivated and wild species of tomato for leaf curl and late blight, RKN resistance genes using MAS.
  • Screening of cultivated and wild species of tomato for ability to set fruit at high (>400 C) and low (<60 C) temperatures.
  • Screening of cultivated and wild species of tomato for high TSS (>5 oB), lycopene, GABA, acidity, superior processing quality attributes (paste and puree).
 NBPGR, New Delhi CPCT, IARI, New Delhi    

Management, Implementation and Coordination team

  • Dr Gyanendra Pratap Singh, Director, ICAR-NBPGR & Scheme Coordinator
  • Dr Sushil Pandey, Lead Centre Platform Coordinator (LCPC)
  • Dr Jyoti Kumari, Dy. Lead Centre Platform Coordinator (Dy. LCPC)
Following PPI, Co-PPI and Associate Scientists are team members under CRP on Agrobiodiversity:
Sl. No. Projects (Crop/ Crop Group) Component *Project Principal Investigator (PPI) **Co-Project Principal Investigator (Co-PPI) ***Associate Scientists
1 Characterization of Rice Genetic Resources I Suman Roy Rakesh Singh, Vishnu Kumar DR Pani, RK Gautham, J Aravind
2 Characterizarion of Pigeonpea Genetic Resources I Padmavati Gore Chithra Devi Pandey Kuldeep Tripathi
3 Characterization of Millet Genetic Resources I Sushil Pandey Chithra Devi Pandey, Sunil S Gomashe, Badal Singh Rakesh Bhardwaj, Mamta Singh,
4 Characterizarion of Vegetables (Brinjal & Cucumber) Genetic Resources I Chithra Devi Pandey Sushil Pandey, Pragya  
5 Characterizarion of Genetic Resources of Forage Crops I Anjali Kak Susheel Kumar Raina  
6 PGR Evaluation and Use of Maize Genetic Resources II Badal Singh Jyoti Kumari, Sherry R Jacob, Sapna, KS Hooda  
7 PGR Evaluation and Use of Mustard Genetic Resources II Rashmi Yadav Mamta Singh,Jameel Akhtar Mamta Arya,Kartar Singh
8 PGR Evaluation and Use of Finger millet Genetic Resources II Mamta Singh Sushil Pandey,Lalit Arya,Sunil S Gomashe Badal Singh
9 PGR Evaluation and Use of Lentil Genetic Resources II Kuldeep Tripathi Gayacharan, Jameel Akhtar, Padmavati Gore SB Chaudhary
10 PGR Evaluation and Use of Cucumber Genetic Resources II Pragya Chithra Devi Pandey, BH Gawade, Raj Kiran  
11 Evaluation of wild species and landraces for their utilization in Wheat III Jyoti Kumari Rakesh Bhardwaj, Sundeep Kumar, Sherry R Jacob  
12 Evaluation of wild species and landraces for their utilization in Chickpea III Gayacharan Kuldeep Tripathi, Rahul Chandora,Padmavati G Gore,Gowthami R S Rajkumar
13 Evaluation of wild species and landraces for their utilization in Okra III Suma A Chithra Devi Pandey, Gowthami R, PP Thirumalaisamy S Rajkumar,Pooja Kumari
14 Evaluation of wild species and landraces for their utilization in Tomato III PK Singh SK Yadav, Chithra Devi Pandey, BH Gawade Jameel Akhtar,Pooja Kumari
15 Database Management I, II & III Hanuman Lal Madhu Bala  
16 Seed Health Testing I, II & III Jameel Akhtar Kavita Gupta, BH Gawade,Raj Kiran, BR Meena Pradeep Kumar,Pooja Kumari
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