The Hindu Business Line : Icrisat gets GM groundnut ready for open field trials

THE International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat) has developed genetically-modified (GM) groundnut and pigeon pea (arhar or tur) varieties, resistant to Indian Peanut Clump Virus (PCV) and bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) infestations, respectively.

Addressing presspersons here on Wednesday, the ICRISAT Director-General, Dr William D. Dar, said the IPCV-resistant transgenic groundnut had already undergone on-station trials at Icrisat's fields in Patancheru, near Hyderabad, during the kharif 2002 and 2003 seasons.

"We have sought the Government's approval for conducting open trails in farmers' fields during the 2005 kharif season," he said.

IPCV is a common disease of groundnut, transmitted by a seed-borne fungus. Although the disease does not kill the plant, the infected plants do not produce marketable pods. IPCV is said to be difficult to control because it can survive in the soil for several years. Conventional breeding efforts for conferring resistance have not succeeded because suitable resistant groundnut genotypes have not been found even after screening of over 10,000 germplasm accessions.

Icrisat claims that the transgenic approach, necessitated by the failure of conventional breeding, involved genetically transforming groundnut with resistance genes introduced from the virus itself. The process involved Icrisat first undertaking gene sequencing and cloning in collaboration with the UK-based Scottish Crops Research Institute (SCRI). Subsequently, the `coat protein' and `replicase' genes of ICPV were transferred into economically important groundnut cultivars, yielding over 50 transgenic lines that were then subjected to extensive molecular characterisation for the desired gene integration and expression.

Dr Dar said the GM pigeon pea would be subjected to on-station trials in the current as well next kharif season and would be ready for farmers' fields trials only in 2006. This crop would incorporate the Bacillus thuringiensis (bt) gene, which has been used in the case of cotton for conferring `in-built' resistance against the dreaded Helicoverpea or Heliothis insect pest.

Icrisat, which is one of the 15 global centres affiliated to the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), does research on five crops — bajra (pearl millet), sorghum (jowar), groundnut, pigeon pea and chickpea (gram or chana) — grown mostly in rain-fed areas. Its major research accomplishments include developing the world's first ever pigeon pea hybrid (ICPH 8, released by the Government in 1991) and a hybrid pearl millet, HHB-67, which matures in just 65 days.

According to Icrisat, the adoption of its wilt-resistant, short-duration `kabuli' varieties, such as Swetha (ICCV-2) and KAK 2 (ICCV-92311) and `desi' varieties like Kranthi (ICCC-37) and JG 11 (ICCV-93954) had led to an increase in area under chickpea in Andhra Pradesh from 60,000 hectares to 2,88,000 hectares between 1993 and 2002, with production going up from 28,000 tonnes to 3,63,000 tonnes and yield per hectare from 468 kg to 1,274 kg. Similarly, its HHB-67 hybrid pearl millet is today grown in over 4 lakh hectares of Haryana and Rajasthan.

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