Topic
icar
Commodities ICAR unveils India's first fully annotated T2T pigeonpea genome to speed pulse breeding
ICAR has developed India's first fully annotated telomere-to-telomere (T2T) reference genome of pigeonpea variety 'Asha', spanning 752.65 million base pairs across all 11 chromosomes. The milestone, deposited in NCBI as NIPB_CcT2T_4, is expected to accelerate climate-resilient, high-yielding pulse breeding and support India's Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses.
Manufacturing ICAR’s African Swine Fever vaccine to bolster India’s biosecurity
ICAR announced an indigenously developed live attenuated vaccine against African Swine Fever, developed at the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal. The vaccine comes after ASF outbreaks in Assam and Mizoram caused an estimated ₹1,258 crore in combined losses. ICAR said the vaccine will help reduce pig mortality, minimise economic losses and improve farmers' livelihoods.
Commodities Jayant Agro Develops Short-Duration Castorseed with ICAR and University Partners
Jayant Agro-Organics Ltd (JAOL) is collaborating with ICAR's Indian Institute of Oilseed Research and Sardar Dantiwada University to develop short-duration castor varieties. Managing Director Abhay Udeshi says the initiative aims to encourage farmers to increase castorseed area by reducing crop duration. Current yields have risen from 600-700 kg/ha to 2-2.5 tonnes, and the company targets 3 tonnes nationally within 5-10 years, despite erratic monsoon and heat waves affecting this year's crop.
Commodities ICAR Hyderabad's Smart Seed Coating Technology Boosts Crop Yield Up to 37%
The Indian Institute of Oilseeds Research (IIOR) in Hyderabad, under ICAR, has developed a biopolymer-based Smart Seed Coating Technology that wraps seeds in a biodegradable layer delivering microorganisms, nutrients, and crop-protection agents. Field trials across seven crops showed productivity gains of 12% to 37% over untreated seeds, with groundnut and soybean yields in Telangana improving by about 30%. The technology is patented in India and aims to partner with state seed corporations, FPOs, and private seed companies for distribution.