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Journalism of Courage
The Indian Council for Agricutlure Research and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) are getting into a partnership for genetic enhancement of rice.
DG ICAR Dr Mangala Rai announced today that the government is putting in Rs 12 crore for this partnership in ‘‘functional genomics’’.
‘‘Drought is a major constraint of rice production in the world. And India has seen it in the last few years. Application of rice genomics will make a major difference to rice production,,’ said IRRI director general Dr Robert Zeigler.
Meanwhile, the IRRI has come up with a second variety of the controversial golden rice.
This variety, developed by scientists at IRRI headquarters in Manilla, has more vitamins that the first version, which was developed six years ago and had come in for severe criticism internationally.
Meanwhile, the ICAR has signed a workplan with IRRI for collaboration in rice research and genetic. The plan focuses on enriching rice grain with iron and zinc through fertiliser use.
