ICAR-Indian Grassland & Fodder Research Institute (IGFRI)

Collaborating Centre Principal Investigator (CC-PI)

Dr. Parichita Priyadarshini

Scientist

Principal Investigator involved in the project

Dr. Parichita Priyadarshini

Scientist

Co-Principal Investigators (Co-PIs)

Dr. K. K. Dwivedi

Principal Scientist

Dr. Ravi Prakash Saini

Scientist

Dr. Maneet Rana

Scientist

Target Traits in Cowpea

Research Methods & Expected Outcomes

The cultivation of a major legume crop, cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), is expanding across arid and semi-arid regions worldwide. Genes regulating flowering time play a key role in controlling floral transition, especially in legumes, and are therefore important targets for CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing. In association with the ICAR genome editing project, scientists at IGFRI are working on these flowering-regulatory genes in cowpea with the objective of delaying flowering time, which is expected to enhance biomass yield.