PASIGHAT, Nov 8: National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology Director Prof NK Singh stressed on conserving wild varieties of agriculture and horticulture crops, during an invited lecture he delivered at the College of Horticulture & Forestry (CHF) here in East Siang district on Thursday.
Delivering his lecture on the topic, ‘Decoding the plant genome uniquely important for India’, Prof Singh stressed the need to decode the plant genome “for making the complete physical map, characterization of germplasm, gene discovery, and utilization of marker,” the CHF informed in a release.
Prof Singh explained how to explore the “resistance gene” of wild species and use the gene for developing “high-yielding and resistant varieties against biotic and abiotic stresses.”
The professor also visited the college’s biotechnology laboratory, and commended the students of the Northeast region who seek to pursue careers in biotechnology.
Earlier, CHF Dean Prof BN Hazarika highlighted the potential of biotechnological tools in developing plant hybrids and disease-resistant plant varieties, and developing vaccines to prevent various diseases.
CHF Vegetable Science HoD Dr Pranabjyoti Sarma also spoke.
