Indian scientists sequence first plant genome

In a major milestone, Indian scientists have for the first time sequenced the genetic make-up of a plant.

For the first time in the country, scientists have successfully managed to sequence the genome or most of the genetic make-up of the arhar or pigeon pea plant. This will help breed higher yielding varieties and may also boost productivity. India currently imports arhar dal as domestic requirements cannot be met.

The team of 31 scientists was led by Professor Nagendra Kumar Singh from National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology at New Delhi and they have decoded the genome of the second most important pulse crop of India. It took them about six years and they spent Rs. 11 crore on this effort.

"This is the first plant genome sequenced entirely through a network of Indian institutions and it will provide highly valuable resource for improvement of pigeon pea varieties," said Professor Singh.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, presently, India imports about three million tonnes of pulses at a cost of about Rs. 7000 crore every year. The large demand supply gap has led to soaring prices of lentils resulting in huge food inflation. Average pulse crop productivity in India has remained low at about 650 kilograms per hectare for the last six decades and this breakthrough could help break that yield barrier.  

According to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, about 85 per cent of the world's pigeon pea is produced and consumed in India. India imports pigeon pea from Myanmar which is the second largest producer. The world acreage of pigeon pea is about 4.90 million hectare with annual production of about 4.22 million metric tonne, worth about $ 1.5 billion. India is the largest producer, consumer and importer of pigeon pea with annual production of 3.07 million metric tonne.

Two groups of scientists - one at Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the other at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) Hyderabad - have both independently published the work.