International Women’s Day was celebrated on March 9,2023 at ICAR-IIRR

 ‘’International Women’s Day’’ was celebrated on March 9, 2023 by the ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research, Hyderabad at the institute auditorium. All the women personnel from scientific, technical, administrative and SSS were acknowledged and felicitated for their immense contribution to the institutes’ progress by the Director, ICAR-IIRR, Dr. R. M. Sundaram in his inaugural address.  The senior most woman scientist of the institute Dr. K Surekha, PS & Head, Soil Science was the guest of honour and senior most Administrative Staff Ms. Sudha Nair, AAO was felicitated by Director, IIRR. The UN designated theme, “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality” was elaborated upon by defining the gender digital divide and on the positive side how digital literacy is enabling women to reach out to vulnerable women by Dr. Amtul Waris, PS, IIRR. The guest speakers, Ms. Mounika Desitti, a student entrepreneur explained about the Nutrish.app which provides tasty and nutritious food at your doorstep. Ms.Uzma Khatoon and Zainab Khatoon have developed Dovely.org, which is a very unique India’s only Bike Taxi service for women, driven by women which aims to increase women employment.  The IPM app developed by in-house team of IIRR Drs. B. Sailaja, Ch. Padmavathi, D. Krishnaveni, B. Sreedevi & K. Surekha was demonstrated. The significance of acknowledging the contributions of women by dedicating a special day was elaborated upon by Dr. B. Nirmala, Senior Scientist, IIRR. To add to the fun quotient an eclectic quiz on women achievers and cultural heritage of our Nation was organized by Drs. Brajendra, Mangrauthia, and Arun which was well enjoyed and enthusiastically participated by the IIRR staff. Dr. P. Muthuraman, Head, Transfer of Technology and Training proposed the vote of thanks and reiterated the significant contributions of women to the Nation and institute building.

Hands-on Training on

"Genome Editing Technologies in Crops"

14 - 23 October 2024

The ten-day Hands-on Training Program on “Genome Editing Technologies in Crops” was inaugurated with great enthusiasm at the ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR), Hyderabad, from 14 October to 23 October 2024. This hands-on training program aims to provide participants with the skills, knowledge, and resources to implement genome editing technologies in their respective research areas, thereby contributing to the development of crops with enhanced traits for improved agricultural outcomes. The training program has brought together participants from ICAR, state agricultural universities, CSIR, and Indo-US institutions, working on rice, wheat, cucurbits, arid crops, tomatoes, microbes, and poultry.

Dr R M Kumar, officiating Director, ICAR-IIRR presented the opening remarks of the training program. Dr. R.M. Sundaram, Director of ICAR-IIRR and the Course Director for the program emphasized the transformative potential of genome editing in crops, especially in accelerating product development and crop improvement. He also highlighted the essential support from ICAR for organizing the Human Resource Development (HRD) program and acknowledged ongoing projects under ICAR’s auspices. Dr. Sundaram shared success stories, such as the development of the salinity-tolerant rice MTU 1010, developed by IARI, and the yield-improved Samba Mahsuri rice developed by ICAR-IIRR. Dr. Satendra K. Mangrauthia, Course Director, welcomed the participants and provided an overview of the program’s content. He emphasized the hands-on nature of the training, designed to equip participants with practical skills in genome editing technologies. Dr. C.N. Neeraja, Head Biotechnology, ICAR-IIRR provided an in-depth briefing on Institutional Biosafety Committee protocols, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) guidelines, and the importance of deregulating genome-edited products to accelerate commercialization and adoption. Dr. P. Muthu Raman, encouraged participants to actively engage in discussions and absorb the knowledge imparted during the sessions, which are carefully designed for maximum applicability in their respective fields.

The Chief Guest, Dr. T.R. Sharma, Deputy Director General (Crop Science), ICAR, highlighted the critical role genome editing plays in addressing contemporary agricultural challenges. He commended ICAR-IIRR’s efforts in organizing the program and congratulated the team on their successful development of the genome-edited Samba Mahsuri rice with high yield potential. Dr. Sharma also provided insights into the criteria for selecting genes and traits for genome editing, motivating participants to pursue cutting-edge research in this domain.

The Guest of Honor, Dr. D.K. Yadava, Assistant Director General (Seed), ICAR, addressed on the judicious use and regulatory frameworks governing genome-edited crops. He stressed the importance of developing indigenous genome-editing technologies to enhance Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and facilitate the commercialization of these innovations. He praised the training program’s technical design and encouraged participants to engage in discussions with faculty and resource persons to maximize the impact of the program in their home institutions.

The Guest of Honor, Dr. S.K. Pradhan, Assistant Director General (FFC), ICAR, lauded the diverse participation from various disciplines in the training programs. He emphasized the far-reaching potential of Genome Editing (GeD) technologies in enhancing crop traits and encouraged further collaboration and hands-on learning. He also stressed the importance of continuous work in the field of genome editing and encouraged the participants to strengthen their ties with ICAR-IIRR for future advancements.

Throughout the inaugural session, participants raised several pertinent points and shared their expectations from the program. The dignitaries expressed their best wishes for the success of the training and underscored the importance of continuing education in genome editing technologies to address agricultural challenges. The inaugural session concluded with a formal vote of thanks by Dr Kalyani M Barbadikar.

The Society for Advancement of Rice Research is a registered society for researchers, research managers extension personnel, institutions, development agencies, trade and industry who practice and promote activities for the advancement of rice science and development.  The society has  been started with overall objectives of providing a platform for exchange information and knowledge and disseminate the latest developments in rice research and to bring together all persons / institutions working for the cause of rice.

Website Link : The Society for Advancement of Rice Research 

ICAR Sponsored Winter School on Development, Evaluation, and Biosafety Assessment of Genome Edited Crops: Hands-on Training - 20 January to 9 February 2023

ICAR sponsored 21-days Winter School training course on “Development, Evaluation, and Biosafety Assessment of Genome Edited Crops: Hands-on Training” was successfully conducted by ICAR - Indian Institute of Rice Research, Hyderabad from 20 January to 9 February 2023 in collaboration with Agri-Biotech Foundation (ABF), Hyderabad.

The program was inaugurated by Dr. Ramesh V. Sonti, Director, ICGEB, New Delhi. He stressed the importance of genome editing for developing high yielding, climate resilient, abiotic/ biotic stress tolerant, and biofortified crops for the country. Dr. P. Anand Kumar, Former Director (ICAR-NIPB and ICAR-IIRR) was the guest of honour and reiterated the applications of genome editing tools in enhancing various economical traits in crops. Dr RM Sundaram Director, ICAR-IIRR presided the inaugural program of the winter school.

A total of 25 participants were selected from across the country among ICAR Institutes and SAUs. The meticulously planned course content covered various in-vogue topics on genome editing through a series of structured modules. Expert resource persons identified from various ICAR, CSIR, DBT institutes, SAUs, Central universities, other National and International research organisations delivered lectures on various topics in genome editing coupled with hands-on training experience and field visits.

The valedictory function was organized on 9 February 2023. Congratulating the organizers and participants for timely conduct of this training in the country, Dr. T.R. Sharma, DDG (CS), ICAR, the chief guest emphasized the benefits of genome editing for developing enhanced need-based quality products in crops. He encouraged the trainees to harness the genome editing tools in their respective crops and mentioned that India has taken a pragmatic approach, regarding biosafety regulations of genome edited crops. Dr Seema Jaggi, ADG (HRD), ICAR, theguest of honor, highlighted the purpose of conducting the training course is for improving the knowledge, skills and expertise of trainees across the NARS institutes in the frontline area of genome editing.

Dr RM Sundaram Director, ICAR-IIRR served as course director of the training course along with Dr. Satendra K. Mangrauthia, while Dr. C.N. Neeraja, Dr P Muthuraman, Dr. KB Kalyani, Dr. P. Senguttuvel and Dr. S. Arun Kumar served as the course coordinators from ICAR-IIRR, while, Dr. M Gopala Krishna and Dr Anurag Uttam, served as the course coordinators from Agri-Biotech Foundation.