New Delhi, India
October 12, 2007
Source:
DailyIndia.com via
Checkbiotech
Improving wheat production sustainability in north-west India
through the use of biotechnology is the focus of a joint,
three-day Indian-Australian workshop commencing today at the
Indian Council of Agricultural
Research (ICAR) Conference Centre in Delhi.
The workshop, initiated by Dr Mangala Rai, Director General of
ICAR, will be co-hosted by ICAR and the
Australian Centre for
International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).
In his opening remarks, the Australian High Commissioner to
India, John McCarthy, said the workshop will form the basis of a
joint ICAR-ACIAR collaborative five-year program on
marker-assisted breeding in wheat in a range of applications to
improve disease resistance, drought and temperature tolerance
and quality of wheat.
"This workshop will determine the objectives for a series of
collaborative research projects which will bring together the
world-class wheat research expertise from both countries," said
McCarthy.
Marker assisted selection is a tool that allows plant breeders
to 'mark' specific genes that can deliver desirable traits.
These genes aredentified and marked, and descendants can be
tested easily and quickly in a laboratory for the 'marked' gene.
This tool speeds up breeding programs, achieving greater
efficiency, consistency and accuracy in new varieties.
"Marker assisted selection in the ACIAR wheat-breeding projects
will hasten the development of better wheat traits such as
disease and drought resistance, and improved quality and yield,"
said McCarthy.
"Wheat is a major commodity for both countries, and Australia
and India are world leaders in wheat breeding. There is a long
history of successful collaboration through ACIAR, including the
identification and development of yellow rust resistant strains
of wheat, and we look forward to building on this."
In both India and Australia, changes in temperature and rainfall
conditions and emerging diseases are putting pressure on wheat
production systems, and there is an ongoing drive for improved
quality (including high protein and baking quality).
Australia is in a unique position of sharing similar
agricultural systems, environments and challenges with many
parts of India, including thelluvial Indo-Gangetic Plain, and
the central wheat growing regions of Madhya Pradesh.
ACIAR's partnership model provides research benefits to both
collaborating countries, by bringing together expertise from a
range of research organisations working on problems of common
interest and generating mutual benefits.
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