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The Indian horticulture has been recording the fastest growth in the sector in the world, according to Dr H.P. Singh, Deputy Director General (Horticulture), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
He was speaking at the valedictory function of the national training programme on Allele Mining at the Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR) here.
He said that despite all adversities such as falling farmland and scarcity of water, the country was still able to produce a major share of food crops to feed the population.
If the power of information technology and biotechnology was utilised properly, the challenges in the field could be transformed into opportunities, he added.
The training programme, sponsored by the National Agricultural Innovation Project, explored the use of genomic technologies along with genetic and bio-informatics approaches for identifying allelic variations and to dissect trait-gene associations.
Dr Ben Vosman from Wageningen UR Plant Breeding, the Netherlands, and experts from various ICAR institutes and state agricultural universities led the various sessions at the programme.
Phytophthora genome decoded
Dr Singh also launched the phytophthora genome database developed by IISR.
The genome of phytophthora, the fungus-like organism that causes the foot rot disease in black pepper, has been completely sequenced for the first time by a group of scientist at IISR.
The data base would help researchers in understanding how the pathogen interacted with the host, Dr. Singh said.
Dr Anandaraj, Director of IISR and Coordinator of the project, said that the phytophthora genome sequencing was a significant achievement of the IISR network project being operational in 17 research organisations across the country.
According to researchers, the decoding of the genome will give clues about the regions to be targeted for the successful control of this plant pathogen.
The database will also enable scientists and students to get insights into the biology and genetic make-up of the foot rot pathogen and carry out research in a collaborative manner.
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