The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and Corteva Agriscience, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont, on Thursday inked a multiyear partnership to strengthen food security by improving crops that feed millions through sharing of high-tech and modern breeding technologies.
A Master Alliance Agreement (MAA) was signed between Peter Carberry, Director General (Acting), ICRISAT, and Tom Greene, Senior Research Director, Corteva Agriscience. The technology sharing includes CRISPR-Cas gene editing, adapting transformation techniques to new crops, and applying knowledge of plant biochemical pathways with the goal of productivity and quality improvements for crops that feed millions of people. DuPont Pioneer, now part of Corteva Agriscience, will provide access to intellectual property, material and know-how related to CRISPR-Cas and plant transformation.
"With Corteva Agriscience and ICRISAT scientists working together we will see rapid improvement in technologies towards developing more productive crops and a more prosperous agriculture for smallholder farmers," said Pooja Bhatnagar-Mathur, Principal Investigator, ICRISAT and co-developer of the research plan.
The plan to work together on crops such as sorghum and millet was solidified at a meeting during the 2017 World Food Prize where ICRISAT Director General David Bergvinson and Tom Greene of Corteva Agriscience outlined general research concepts, targets and available technology that would help drive solutions.
Corteva Agriscience is applying CRISPR-Cas as an advanced plant breeding tool to develop crops with greater environmental resiliency, productivity and sustainability.
Published 12 April 2018, 13:10 IST