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Hyderabad-based International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and a Netherlands-based agricultural biotech company KeyGene signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) for research and co-development on legumes and cereals.
According to media reports, the partnership was entered into on May 25, 2018 in Mumbai for research and co-development on legumes and cereals. The two institutions will work together using novel crop innovation solutions based on KeyGene’s proprietary technologies and know-how.
The signing took place at a high profile trade mission hosted by the High Commission of The Netherlands, in presence of the Dutch Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (The Netherlands) Ms Carola Schouten, in Mumbai. The LoI was signed by Dr. Kiran K Sharma, Deputy Director General Research (Acting), ICRISAT and Dr. Arjen van Tunen, CEO, KeyGene.
The genetically diverse grain legume resources of ICRISAT will serve as a reservoir for the identification and exploitation of useful traits. These will be used as a starting point for crop breeding and mutagenesis programmes. Capacity building and skill development of start-up entrepreneurs are also envisaged in this collaboration, a press release said.
“The collaboration can potentially help develop highly productive and resilient crops for food and nutrition security for populations in India and Africa,” said Arjen van Tunen, CEO, KeyGene. The collaborative efforts are aimed at improving crops such as chickpea, pigeonpea, and groundnut. “We are hopeful to see rapid improvements in the applications of technology and its translation into next-generation agricultural products to benefit smallholder farmers in dry lands”, says Peter Carberry, Director General (Acting), ICRISAT.
KeyGene and ICRISAT will work together on innovative approaches for trait development and gene discovery. KeyGene will share its knowledge and expertise on crops and the use of KeyGene’s crop innovation platforms. This includes KeyGene’s Sequence Based Genotyping (SBG) and mutation breeding technologies. The genetically diverse grain legume resources of ICRISAT will serve as a reservoir for the identification and exploitation of useful traits. These will be used as a starting point for crop breeding and mutagenesis programs. Capacity building and skill development of start-up entrepreneurs is also envisaged in this collaboration through ICRISAT’s BioNEST-Bioincubator “BioNCube”.