New varieties of
cereals that use up nitrogen more efficiently and thus produce more and
pollute less could be real in the near future.
A
global consortia has started exploring natural variations of cereals and
basic research in model plants to deliver new varieties of cereals with
enhance nitrogen use. The project is driven by a team of researchers
from India and the UK.
Traditional farming has been
tapping nitrogen fixation as a key booster in crop yields. The new
partnership also aims to turn out varieties that could reduce greenhouse
emissions and make farming more profitable and sustainable.
£10-million funding
The
initiative will get a funding of £10 million through the Newton Bhabha
Fund, UK; Biotechnology and Biological Research Council (BBSRC), UK; and
the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) of the Government of India.
As
part of the effort, four new Virtual Joint Centres in Agricultural
Nitrogen will be created. The Centres comprise multiple research
organisations in India and the UK, with each receiving a co-investment
of approximately £2.5 million. These are delivered in partnership with
BBSRC, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the DBT.
The
Cambridge-India Network for Translational Research in Nitrogen
(CINTRIN), one of the four centres, is led by the National Institute of
Agricultural Botany (NIAB) in the UK and the International Crops
Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in India. It also
brings together the Department of Plant Sciences and Sainsbury
laboratory, University of Cambridge, the Punjab Agricultural University
(PAU), the National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), India,
ADAS UK Ltd. and agri-IT specialist KisanHub.
The
launch meeting of CINTRIN was held recently in Cambridge, UK, which was
attended by all the partners of the consortium and a memorandum of
agreement was signed between Icrisat and DBT on July 8.
“The
overarching aim of CINTRIN is to improve not only the income and
livelihood of farmers by reducing the inputs cost, but also to save the
environment by minimising the negative impact of excessive use of
fertilisers,” says Rajeev Gupta, Principal Scientist, Icrisat, who is
leading the Indian team of CINTRIN.
“The natural
variation for nitrogen use efficiency will be studied in diverse
germplasm of wheat, sorghum, pearl millet and foxtail millet. The
findings will be applied to develop new breeding lines with enhanced
NUE. CINTRIN will also use model plants such as Arabidopsis and
Brachypodium for basic research which will be translated into crops in
the future,” he says.
NIAB Director of Genetics and
Breeding Alison Bentley explains: “The CINTRIN partners will translate
developmental biology research into innovation in nitrogen use by Indian
farmers, by connecting developmental research, crop breeding,
agri-technology and extension work. This will be enhanced by easily
accessible data-driven methods of technology transfer, developed by
India and UK-based company, KisanHub.”
Source : Business Line
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