Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology to get CSIR award for developing blight-resistant rice

HYDERABAD: The city-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology ( CCMB) has been chosen for the CSIR award for year 2013 for developing a rice variety that is resistant from bacterial blight and proved to be "boon" for farmers.

The award under the category of Science and Technological Innovations for Rural Development will be presented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi at a date to be fixed soon.

The institute has developed Sambha Mahsuri rice variety which is resistant to bacterial blight.

"Bacteria blight is one such problems that causes yield loss to the extent between 20 to 40 per cent and there are no effective chemicals as of now available for controlling yield loss due to bacteria blight. This bacterial blight resistant variety has been jointly developed by CSIR-CCMB and the Directorate of Rice Research (DRR) using marker-assisted selection methodology," CCMB Director CH Mohan Rao said today.

He said this was one of the first rice varieties developed through the use of bio-technology and released for commercial cultivation in India.

"This variety has become a boon for rice farmers in bacterial blight endemic areas of the country. To reach farmers, CCMB and DRR have started a programme to provide 10 kg of seeds of improved Samba Mahsuri free of cost to each of many rice farming households.

"The project is funded under the CSIR 800 programme, a flagship project of SCIR, which is aimed at enhancing the livelihood options and economic and social well being of 800 million Indians who live in rural areas or constitute the urban poor," Rao said.

The award carries a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh, a citation and a shield.

Rao also said that CCMB scientist Rakesh Mishra has been elected as Fellow, Indian National Academy of Sciences, New Delhi, for his outstanding contributions in science and technology in the areas of developmental biolgy and epigenetic.