Indian Public-Private Partnership Project among top 100 Innovations towards a Better World

The Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM), in its report entitled Technology Transfer Works: 100 Innovations from Academic Research to Real-World Application, has included the Transgenic Eggplant Project supported by USAID and managed by Sathguru Management Consultants in partnership with Cornell University, private sector seed company MAHYCO and a consortium of public sector research institutions.

The report, the third in a series that make up AUTM’s Better World Project, documents the stories of various collaborative efforts between partners that have ensured that results of academic research are translated to products that benefit the general public. According to AUTM, the successful transfer of the fruits of academic research into usable technology involves “continuous interactions and partnering at a number of levels in the public and private sectors.”

The eggplant project has been listed by the report as one among a hundred projects undertaken across the globe with a potential to benefit humanity. The fruit and shoot borer (FSB) resistant variety of eggplant will allow farmers to reduce their dependence on pesticides, maximize farm yields and create a more stable income for farming families. It is the only project from the Indian region and one of the few from the Asian region that has been identified by AUTM for this recognition.

For more information on Sathguru and the Eggplant project, please contact:

K. Vijayaraghavan (Director), or

Akshat Medakker (Associate Consultant – Technology Management)

Sathguru Management Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
Plot No. 15, Hindi Nagar, Punjagutta,
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
India - 500 034
Ph: +91 40 23356975, 23356507, 23350586, 66612352, 66662190
Fax: +91 40 23354042
Email: vijay@sathguru.com or akshatm@sathguru.com

Or visit http://www.sathguru.com/management_consulting.php

To read/download the AUTM report, go to: http://www.betterworldproject.net/documents/AUTM_BWR2_08.pdf      ‹TOP›

Supreme Court lifts 8-month ban on field trials of GM crops

One of the riders for conducting future field trials would require the company to disclose a detailed report of the toxicity and allergenicity of the GM-crops being cultivated

http://www.livemint.com/2007/05/09063334/Supreme-Court-lifts-8month-ba.html

President for promoting GM crops

Sunday September 3 2006 00:00 IST
UNI

NEW DELHI: President APJ Abdul Kalam on Friday said promoting of genetic engineering technology for crops could help the country to tackle problems of low productivity and also frequent drought conditions, low temperature spells and lot of salt affected areas.

There is need to search for genes to overcome these problems by developing stress tolerant and pest-resistant crop varieties. The pest resistant genes for various biotic stresses can be a big boon to the farmers and boost agriculture production substantially, said the President while delivering a key note address at a symposium on "search of new genes', commemorating birth centenary of eminent agriculutral scientist late B P Pal here.

'Plant Genomics' is the new emerging area of research which could be used as bio-factories producing useful proteins, therapeutic molecules, nutritional compositions, and stress tolerant varieties to meet the current and futuristic requirement of the society in eco-environment friendly manner.

Besides, the genetic engineering could help in adding to the crops more vitamin a, iodine, calcium and iron as to supplement diet.

There is a continuous reduction in the reserve of fossil fuel in the planet. India produces only 25 per cent of its total requirement and could reduce the import Bill by producing more biofuels by applying biotechnology on crops.

The 'genome' of the plant with 'metabolome' is the emerging field of functional genomics, a successor of gene, which finds large scale application in medicinal and aromatic plants to develop designer crops that would specifically produce the drug molecules and accumulate them in large quantities for use by pharma industry.

FSBR Eggplant Technology Transfer Agreement Between Mahyco, UPLB and Sathguru to Facilitate Commercialization of Bt Eggplant in Philippines

The technology transfer agreement for Fruit and Shoot Borer Resistant (FSBR) eggplant was signed on January 30, 2006 at the Office of the Chancellor, University of Philippines, Los Banos (UPLB) to facilitate the commercialization of the Bt Eggplant varieties in Philippines.

The agreement between the Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company (Mahyco), UPLB and Sathguru Management Consultants will help expedite the transfer of seeds of the crosses produced between the Mahyco Bt parental line and selected Philippine varieties.

The agreement was signed between Mahyco, the technology donor, represented by its Director for Research Dr. Brent Zehr, Sathguru Management Consultants Private Limited, as technology facilitator, represented by its Director Kannan Ragunathan, and UPLB, represented by its Chancellor Rey Luis I. Velasco. Dr. Ronnie Coffman, co-director of ABSP II and director of the International Programs of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, and Dr. Desiree Hautea, director of the Institute of Plant Breeding, UPLB and ABSPII-Southeast Asia Regional Coordinator were present on the occasion.

Among several important personalities present during the ceremony were Dr. Cecilio Arboleda, Executive Director of UPLB – Foundation Incorporated, Dr. Enrico Supangco, Vice-Chancellor for Research and Extension, Dr. Rita Laude, Vice-chancellor for Instruction, Dr. Florinia Merca, Director of the Office for Institutional Linkages, and Professor Stella Tirol, Director of Public Relations.

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The Hindu Business Line : (Friday, Jul 29, 2005)
TNAU set to begin GM brinjal field trials

Our Bureau
Coimbatore , July 28

THE Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) will soon take for field trials a genetically modified eggplant that is resistant to fruit and shoot borer.

Fruit and shoot borer have been affecting eggplant yield in a big way and the GM brinjal is likely to help in overcoming this problem.

After successful completion of the trials, the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University is proposing to distribute the seeds to thebrinjal farmers on cost basis.

The Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company (Mahyco) has developed the technology after receiving the representative seeds from the varsity. Dr Usha B. Zehr, Joint Director (Research) of Mahyco, handed over the backcrossed seeds to the TNAU Vice- Chancellor, Dr C. Ramaswamy, during the recently held `Insect Resistant Management' meeting.

Earlier, the Professor and Head of the Department of Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Dr P. Balasubramanian, said India and China accounted for nearly 84 per cent of the world's production of brinjal. However, this important vegetable crop was plagued by high infestation of the fruit and shoot borer pest, forcing extensive pesticide application to curb the pest menace and eventual damage to the crop.

Estimates suggest that the crop loss due to pest and disease infestation ranged between 54 and 70 per cent in India. It touched a 100 per cent if the loss due to fruit and shoot borer was also factored.

The frequent and heavy spraying of chemical pesticides, scientists apprehend, would have adverse impact on the environment besides increasing the production cost.

"To provide a global solution to this problem, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded consortium, Agricultural Biotechnology Support Programme (ABSP) II of the Cornell University devised a strategy that brought together public and private institutions in various countries, including India. With the efforts of the ABSP II team and Sathguru Management Consultants, Hyderabad, a private-public partnership with a number of global partners was constituted. In partnership with Mahyco, public sector institutions are engaged in developing transgenic varieties," Dr Balasubramanian said.
News Update as at 17.00 hrs (IST)
Agri-Business

Transgenic seeds - the white hope of brinjal growers

COIMBATORE: Farmers burdened by yield losses in brinjal crops due to fruit and shoot borer insect pest now have a ray of hope.

For Mahyco, one of the largest private hybrid seed companies, has developed a backcrossed transgenic seed of fruit and shoot borer resistant brinjal, also known as eggplant, for the benefit of farmers.

The seeds have been handed over to Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) for further development and validation, which, after successful field trials, would be distributed to farmers on cost basis, University sources said.

Brinjal is one of the most important vegetables consumed in the sub-tropics and tropics and China and India are the major producers, together accounting for nearly 84 per cent of the world production.

However, production was plagued by chronically high infestation of fruit and shoot borer pest, forcing farmers to apply pesticides at exceptionally high rates.
According to an estimate, the crop loss due to pest and diseases in India ranged from 54 to 70 per cent. The sources said that because of severe yield losses, farmers used many toxic chemicals repeatedly. - PTI