UoH secures Rs 2.5 crore in grants for climate-resilient agriculture research

The University of Hyderabad has secured two DBT-BIRAC grants worth Rs 2.5 crore under the BioE3 policy for climate-resilient agriculture research. The projects will develop microbial consortia for foxtail millet and viral resistance in tomato through gene editing and foliar treatment.

Hyderabad: The University of Hyderabad (UoH) has secured two research grants to tune of Rs.2.5 crore under the Department of Biotechnology’s (DBT) BioE3 — Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment — Policy, through the DBT-BIRAC Joint Call for Proposals on ‘Climate Resilient Agriculture.’

Dr. M. Muthamilarasan of the Department of Plant Sciences, School of Life Sciences, is the Principal Investigator for the university in both projects, which bring together scientists from multiple national institutions to develop biotechnology-driven solutions for climate-resilient farming.
The first project takes up the development of climate-resilient microbial consortia to enhance resilience in foxtail millet, while the second project aims at imparting viral resistance in tomato through gene editing and peptide-based foliar treatment.
Dr. Muthamilarasan said the two BioE3 projects are a natural extension of their research journey on tomato and millets. “With these two grants, our lab’s project portfolio has grown to Rs. 417.71 lakhs,” he added.

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