ICAR-Indian Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology (IIAB)

Collaborating Centre Principal Investigator (CC-PI)

Dr. Khela Ram Soren

Senior Scientist

Principal Investigators involved in the project

Dr. Khela Ram Soren

Senior Scientist

Dr. Sujit Kumar Bish

Senior Scientist

Dr. Shambhu Krishan Lal

Scientist

Dr. Omkar M. Limbalkar

Scientist

Co-Principal Investigators (Co-PIs)

Dr. Sujay Rakshit

Director

Dr. V. P. Bhadana

Joint Director (R)

Dr. Avinash Pandey

Senior Scientist

Dr. Sudhir Kumar

Senior Scientist

Dr. Madan Kumar

Senior Scientist

Dr. Tanmaya K Sahu

Scientist

Dr. Suryakant Manik

Scientist

Target Traits in Oilseed & Pulses

Research Methods & Expected Outcomes

Under the ICAR-funded Genome Editing Project, scientists at ICAR-IIAB, Ranchi, are working on soybean, peanut, cotton, sunflower, and urd bean to develop climate-resilient and nutritionally superior varieties using advanced genome editing tools. Crop-specific traits such as photoperiod insensitivity in soybean, reduced anti-nutritional factors in peanut, tolerance to premature flower and fruit shedding in cotton, improved oil quality in sunflower, and enhanced nutritional content with viral tolerance in urd bean are being targeted for precise genetic improvement. Standardization of regeneration and transformation protocols in these crops is also underway to enable efficient trait integration.

The project has further strengthened infrastructure at ICAR-IIAB by establishing a Plant Tissue Culture Facility and upgrading laboratories with state-of-the-art equipment, including Real-Time PCR systems, LC-MS-MS-QTOF, automated flash chromatography, BSL-2 biosafety cabinets, and biolistic gene delivery systems. These resources not only support ongoing genome editing research but also create a strong platform for capacity building of young researchers. Overall, the project is expected to deliver novel crop varieties with enhanced productivity, nutritional quality, and stress tolerance, thereby contributing significantly to sustainable agriculture.