The Centre for Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at TNAU, Coimbatore recently offered a short course on “Herbicide Resistance in Tolerant Crops and Weeds”, led by a Fulbright scholar from Kansas State University. USA Prof. (Dr.) Mithila Jugulam, was leading the course.
Coimbatore: From June 8 to 16, 2023, a short course on "Herbicide Resistance in Tolerant Crops and Weeds" was offered at the Centre for Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, TNAU, Coimbatore. Fulbright scholar at Kansas State University.
USA Prof. (Dr.) Mithila Jugulam, was leading the course. Dr.E.Kokiladevi, Professor & Head, Department of Plant Biotechnology, initially welcomed the 42 participants who were selected from varied groups of faculty and students during the course's commencement on June 8, 2023.
In his special presentation, Dr. N. Senthil, Director (CPMB&B) and Dean (SPGS), stated that the herbicide market is the second largest economy after pesticides, but little research has been taken up to identify newer molecules, while crops and weeds gain resistance to commonly used pesticides.
Prof. Mithila Jugulam gave two-hour lectures in the morning session, followed by practical sessions. The bioinformatics sessions complementing the Molecular discovery and creation of herbicide resistance crops were explained by Dr.N.Saranya, Dr.M.Jayakanthan, and N.Bharathi of the Department of Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics.
Dr.Bharathi of the Department of Soil Science described soil residue analysis and instruments. Dr.S.Varanavasiappan of the Department of Plant Biotechnology discussed the concept of using the latest biotechnological technologies such as Gene-Editing.
Dr.M.Raveendran, Director of Research at TNAU, Coimbatore, presided over the valedictory session on June 16, 2023. In his remarks, Dr. Raveendran stated that TNAU was the first in India to develop a herbicide resistant rice genotype called "Robin."It was recently incorporated into Pusa-Basmati varieties.
He motivated the scientists to form a collaboration to identify crops that require herbicide tolerance because manpower is limited, which can enhance crop yield by 30%. Dr.B.Rajagopal, Associate Professor (Biotech), presented the short-course report and participant feedback. Dr. Raghu, Assistant Professor (Microbiology), then gave the vote of thanks.