27 April 2012
No. 1516
(L to R) Dr Rajeev Varshney; Dr Gengyun Zhang, Vice President of BGI; Director General William Dar; and Mr Dawen Xu, BGI Regional Director, during the signing of the MoU on applied genomics research for molecular breeding.
Applied genomics research partnership for the poor
ICRISAT and BGI team up on molecular breeding of dryland crops In the fight against poverty and hunger amid the threat of climate change, highly nutritious, droughttolerant crops are the best bets for smallholder farmers in the dryland tropics of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa to survive and improve their livelihoods. Genomics research for crops like chickpea, finger millet, groundnut, pearl millet, pigeonpea and sorghum will be crucial in the development of improved varieties that can provide high yields and thrive in harsh environments, and in meeting the food and nutrition security challenges in the drylands.
B
GI, the world’s largest genomics organization, and ICRISAT signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 24 April in Shenzhen, China for a long-term collaboration on applied genomics research for molecular breeding. The partnership primarily aims to enhance precision of breeding programs for semi-arid tropic crops by using next-generation sequencing technologies towards crop improvement for sustainable food
production, particularly in the drylands of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The MoU was signed by Director General William Dar and BGI Vice President Gengyun Zhang. The two organizations agreed to enhance their collaboration in agricultural research-fordevelopment, especially in the genome sequencing and analysis of ICRISAT mandate crops, as well as in capacity building and other agreed activities. to page 2 ...4