Partner Name: International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)

Mission:
The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is a nonprofit, non-political organisation that does innovative agricultural research and capacity building for sustainable development with a wide array of partners across the globe. ICRISAT?s mission is to help empower 600 million poor people to overcome hunger, poverty and a degraded environment in the dry tropics through better agriculture. ICRISAT is one of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Centres.

Main Research Topics:

• Structural and comparative genomics of cereal and legumes and resource development,
• Molecular diversity in germplasm collection and allele mining, and
• Molecular mapping and breeding for drought tolerance.

Collaboration with the GCP:
Since the inception of the GCP, ICRISAT has been working with it on the following topics:

• Molecular characterisation of germplasm collections: Global composite collections of chickpea (3000 accessions), groundnut (1000 accessions), pigeonpea (1000 accessions), sorghum (3000 accessions), pearl millet (1000 accessions), finger millet (1000 accesions) and foxtail millet (500 accessions) have been/are being characterised using microsatellite molecular markers under Subprogramme 1. Molecular diversity data are presently being used to define the reference collection, representing the global diversity in these species.
• Comparative genomics and association mapping: In collaboration with more than 10 CG centres and ARI, efforts are underway to identify orthologous candidate genes for drought tolerance by using in silico and wet lab experiments under ADOC project. These candidate genes will be sequenced in the reference collection of chickpea and sorghum for understanding the allelic sequence diversity and association mapping for drought tolerance.
• Molecular mapping of drought related traits: In collaboration with Catholic University/EMBRAPA, molecular mapping for water-use efficiency is underway in groundnut. In parallel wild relative species of groundnut are being used for bioassaying the drought related traits.
• Genetic, genomics and bioinformatics resource development: To bring the molecular diversity from wild related species of groundnut, development of back cross populations after crossing the reconstituted tetraploid groundnut with cultivated groundnut species is underway. For identification of drought responsive candidate genes, in collaboration with International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) and University of Hyderabad, the pearl millet ESTs were generated by using the subtractive hybridisation method. In the area of bioinformatics, the development of Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) and a suite of software for marker assisted selection entitled ?iMAS? as well as a pipeline for the development of SNP and orthologous marker was supported by the GCP.

Crops:
ICRISAT?s crops include two cereals ? sorghum and pearl millet ? and three legumes ? chickpea, pigeonpea and groundnut. Through natural selection and countless generations of cultivation by farmers, these crops have become adapted to the semi-arid tropics.

Major Partners:
ICRISAT carries out its mission by forming research partnerships with government, non-governmental, and private sector organisations in developing countries, and linking these partners to advanced research institutions worldwide. Major partners include:

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), India
Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), India
M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, India
Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), Japan
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), China
Agricultural Research & Education Organization (AREO), Iran
Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), Kenya
Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Italy
Centre de Cooperation Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Developmenet (CIRAD), France
Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement (IRD), France
National Smallholder Farmers' Association of Malawi (NASFAM), Malawi
Institut de l'Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles (INERA), Burkina Faso
Institut National de Recherche Agronomique du Niger (INRAN), Niger
Centre regional de formation et d?application en agrometeorologie et hydrologie operationnelle (AGRHYMET), Niger
Institut du Sahel (INSAH), Mali
Institut d'Economie Rural (IER), Mali
The Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), Uganda
Centre d'Etude Regional pour l'Amelioration et l'Adaptation a la Secheresse (CERAAS), Senegal
Conseil Ouest et Centre Africain Pour la Recherche et le Developpment Agricole, CORAF/WECARD, Nigeria
Agricultural Research and Extension Services (AREX), Zimbabwe
Ethiopian Institute of Agriculture Research (EIAR), Ethiopia
National Institute for Agricultural Research (INIA), Mozambique
Asia Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), India
Savanna Agriculture Research Institute, Ghana
International Fertilizer Development Center, USA
Catholic Relief Services, Zimbabwe
Southern African Development Community (SADC), Botswana


Links:
ICRISAT Homepage

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