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Signs agreement on commencement of Phase -2 activities of IRRI South Asia Regional Centre
A Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) has been signed between the Department of Agriculture & Farmer Welfare (DA&FW) and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) on commencement of Phase -2 activities of IRRI South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC) to scale up the existing partnership for food and nutrition security in the South Asian region.
The Agreement was signed by Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, DA&FW and Dr Jean Balié, Director General, IRRI in the presence of the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar.
The ISARC was established following the Union Cabinet approval five years ago. ISARC also set up a Centre of Excellence in Rice Value Addition (CERVA) that includes a modern and sophisticated laboratory with capacity to determine quality and status of heavy metals in grain and straw. One of the critical achievements of CERVA is the development of one low and one intermediate glycaemic index (GI) rice varieties: IRRI 147 (GI 55) and IRRI 162 (GI 57), respectively, through the joint efforts of the CERVA team and IRRI HQ. Since most rice varieties are high in GI and most of the Indians consume rice, the popularization of low GI rice varieties will reduce or even reverse India’s increasing trend of diabetes.
Main objectives of the 2nd phase include the development, dissemination, and popularisation of high-yielding stress-tolerant and bio-fortified rice, particularly high zinc and low glycemic index rice, amongst others.
Activities toward meeting the objectives will be carried out through a trans disciplinary approach and leveraging cutting-edge technologies in three thematic areas over 5 years viz., (1) Centre of Excellence in Rice Value Addition (CERVA); (2) Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Agriculture (CESA) and (3) Centre for Education in Innovation and Research for Development (CEIRD).
image credit- PIB