A centre to study climate-crop link

Pune district is all set to house yet another national institution in the form of the National Centre for Abiotic Stress, with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research giving the green signal to the proposal.

Pune district is all set to house yet another national institution in the form of the National Centre for Abiotic Stress, with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research ICAR giving the green signal to the proposal. The institute will be set up in Union Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party NCP chief Sharad Pawar8217;s home town, Baramati.

The centre, which will be the first research institute of its kind in the country, will study the impact of climate conditions on crops and minerals. It was five months ago that a team of ICAR Central Committee members conducted a review of the Baramati site and submitted a proposal.

ICAR has since given its 8220;technical consent8221; and the plan will now be formally presented to the Cabinet, informed Committee member and National Research Centre for Onion and Garlic Rajgurunagar Director K E Lavande.

The institute is one of those propose by the Moily committee. The other suggested institutes are National Institute of Biotechnology and National Centre for Biotic Stress, which have yet to be finalised.

The State government has offered 175 acres for the project. 8220;Of this, 150 acres is arid land while 25 acres will be irrigated land,8221;said Lavande.

The proposed project will come up at Malegaon village, 10 km from Baramati city. 8220;There were other states too vying for the proposal. Finally ICAR gave it to us,8221; he added. Besides Lavande, the other Committee members are ICAR Deputy Director General A K Singh, Rahuri University Vice-Chancellor R B Deshmukh, KREEDA Director Ramakrishnan and Indian Institute of Agriculture Research Professor P K Agarwal. The report was prepared after the Committee members visited several sites and was tabled before ICAR.

With the threat of global warming increasing fast, many of the country8217;s agricultural institutes are carrying out research on the impact of climate on crops. But the need for comprehensive study and research was felt and provisions for this were introduced in the 11th Five-Year Plan by the Planning Commission.

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ICAR, with over 100 institutes in the country, will be providing grants to the institute. Lavande said constant changes in climatic conditions have led to huge repercussions on crop yield. 8220;We are seeing erratic rainfall, high and low temperatures, increasing humidity levels, increase in soil salinity, water pollution and contamination of the air with heavy metals, all of which are bound to have a negative impact on production. This study will prepare us to counter such an impact,8221; he said.

The institute will take an integrated approach to different disciplines such as biotechnology, crop physiology, soil science and climatology. 8220;An institutional approach is needed to address this issue. ICAR will also be looking at foreign delegates as faculty,8221; Lavande said.