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The Germplasm Diversity Day was organized at ICAR-NBPGR Experimental Farm, Issapur, New Delhi on 15 March 2023. It was attended by around 60 participants from 13 organizations namely ICAR-IIWBR, Karnal; ICAR- IARI, New Delhi; PAU, Ludhiana; ICAR-VPKAS, Almora; ICAR-NBPGR, New Delhi; ICAR-IIPR, Kanpur; SHUATS, Prayagraj; CSKHPV, Palampur; ICARDA-India; KVK, Ujwa; Nuziveedu seeds; ZARS, Kalaburgi and GBPUAT, Pantanagar including five farmers of nearby villages. At the outset, Dr. R K Gautam, Head, Division of Germplasm Evaluation ICAR-NBPGR apprised about the germplasm of different crops being grown at NBPGR, Issapur farm. Dr. GP Singh, Director, ICAR-NBPGR welcomed all the participants and highlighted the importance of genetic resources and field days for their effective utilization. He also expressed his interest in effective collaboration for trait specific evaluation by NARS collaborators. He emphasized about the development of donor for utilization in crop improvement. Dr. Kuldeep Tripathi, OIC, Issapur Experimental Farm facilitated field visit. The participants visited the Issapur farm where 4,180 germplasm accessions comprising grass pea (3,000) and triticale (1,180) are being grown for characterization and preliminary evaluation. Similarly, 3,571 germplasm accessions comprising wheat (1831), chickpea (1040) and barley (700) are being grown for evaluation against abiotic stresses. In addition, the trait-specific germplasm of faba bean nurseries are also on display. The participants selected germplasm of their interest according to their breeding objectives. During interaction, the participants appreciated the efforts of ICAR-NBPGR in showcasing the utilizable crop genetic resources i.e., trait specific germplasm, and crop diversity in landraces. The farmers were very excited to see the material and evinced keen interest in wheat material with high sweetness, bold seeds and thick stem and early maturing chick pea germplasm. The program was concluded with the vote of thanks by Dr. Jyoti Kumari, Principal Scientist, DGE.
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