A global Centre of Excellence to come up in Coimbatore for research on sugarcane
A new global Centre of Excellence for sugarcane research is being established in Coimbatore with a 90-crore investment to develop climate-resilient varieties. The project aims to shorten the development cycle of new sugarcane strains from 14 to 8 years.
Why it matters
Addresses agricultural sustainability and food security through scientific innovation in crop breeding.
A global Centre of Excellence (CoE) will come up at the Indian Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, at ₹90 crore to develop new varieties of sugarcane.
Harshvardhan Patil, president of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories, told journalists in Coimbatore on Friday that the Union government is expected to provide ₹45 crore and the rest will come be contributed by the industry.
The investments will be made in the next four years.
“Sugar mills in the country used to operate for almost 200 days a year. Now, they operate for just 100 days in a year. Sugarcane production is declining because of pests, weather, high temperature, water logging, and so on. Development of a new variety takes almost 14 years. The Global Centre of Excellence for Accelerated Sugarcane Genetic Improvement that will come up in Coimbatore will develop new varieties in eight years,” he said.
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