ICAR-NBPGR and Dr. PDKV Joint Germplasm Field Day on Linseed organized at PDKV, College of Agriculture, Nagpur on 6th February, 2021

Germplasm field day on linseed was jointly organized by ICAR-NBPGR and Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth (PDKV), Akola on 6th February, 2021 at college of Agriculture, Nagpur under the network project “Minor Oilseeds of Indian Origin: Leveraging Genetic Resources for Accelerated Genetic Improvement of Linseed using Comprehensive Genomics and Phenotyping Approaches” sponsored by Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India. The entire collection of linseed germplasm (2612 accessions) conserved at National Gene Bank (NGB) is being evaluated at Nagpur against resistance to bud fly, a major insect pest of linseed. The program started with field visit in which Dr. Beena Nair (Linseed breeder & PI, Linseed project, CoA, Nagpur) explained about the ongoing program and also about the bud fly evaluation work. During the field visit, the senior faculty, students and farmers interacted about the diversity in the germplasm and program. The faculty members nicely explained the queries about the evaluation of linseed germplasm in field conditions. The formal program started with the welcome address by Dr. Jivan Katore (Linseed Agronomist, CoA, Nagpur). Dr. DM Panchbhai (Assoc. Dean, PDKV, Akola), stressed the economic importance of this minor but important oilseed crop for sustainable crop production in Central India and for promotion as industrial crop. Dr. Kuldeep Singh (Director, ICAR-NBPGR) stressed for the utmost care to be taken while evaluating the germplasm for biotic stresses particularly bud fly resistance. He also emphasized the importance of germplasm and effective utilization of genetic resources in this regard. Dr. N Sujatha (Director, IIOR, Hyderabad) highlighted the medicinal importance of linseed and emphasized the dual-purpose linseed cultivation for more gains to farmers in Indian context. Few progressive farmers also shared their views and experiences for increasing the area under linseed cultivation particularly Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. During visit to laboratory, critical discussions were held regarding the evaluation data collection and synthesis of artificial diet for rearing of linseed bud fly etc. Participants were also exposed to work being done in tissue culture laboratory for embryo and ovule culture etc. The event was attended by the senior retired professors, college faculty, PIs from NBPGR, students and farmers. The program concluded with the vote of thanks by Dr. Sandeep Kamdi (Assistant Professor, PDKV, Akola).

(Source:  Dr Ashok Kumar, ICAR-NBPGR, New Delhi)