Improved varieties with high yield and resistance to insect pests, diseases, and drought

Sorghum

• Nearly half of India’s 10 million hectares of sorghum is planted with hybrids. More than 70% of the sorghum hybrids are from the private sector, and 75% of these private sector hybrids have been developed from ICRISAT-bred parental hybrid lines, or on the proprietary parental lines developed from ICRISAT-bred improved germplasm.

• Midge-resistant varieties such as ICSV 197, ICSV 745, ICSV 735, and ICSV 804, which have been released in India and Myanmar, and used in breeding programs extensively in Asia, Africa, Australia, and USA.

• Diverse male-sterile and restorer lines with resistance to insect pests and diseases, that have been used extensively by the private seed sector.

Pearl millet

• The greatest impacts have occurred in India where six million hectares (more than 60% of the total pearl millet area) in India is planted with more than 70 hybrids, of which at least, 80% hybrids are from the private sector. More than 60 of these hybrids are based on ICRISATbred hybrid parents (mostly seed parents), or on the proprietary hybrid parents developed from ICRISAT-bred improved germplasm.

• The hybrid technology has also contributed to employment generation and enhanced income to farmers at the seed production stage.

• Pearl millet hybrid seed production in India, most of it done during the summer season in one district of Andhra Pradesh, generates an additional income of US$1 million a year to the seed producing farmers’ community in this district.

Chickpea

• Several chickpea varieties derived from material supplied from ICRISAT (particularly ICCV 2, KAK 2, ICCV 10, and ICCC 37) occupy 25% of chickpea area in India. The most significant development had been the development of early maturing disease-resistant Kabuli varieties that can be cultivated in Southern and Central India.

• Chickpea area in the Barind tract of Bangladesh increased from a negligible 200 hectares in 1984 to 14,000 hectares in 2000.

• ICRISAT-derived chickpea varieties, or varieties developed from ICRISAT-bred materials, have been released and adopted by farmers on more than 20,000 hectares in Myanmar and more than 30,000 hectares in Ethiopia.

• ICRISAT-derived varieties have also been adopted in non-traditional environments in Australia and Canada (spill-over benefits).

Pigeonpea

• More than 800,000 hectares in three states of India (Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka) are cultivated with two ICRISAT-derived varieties [ICP 8863 (Maruti) and ICPL 87119 (Asha)].

• Pigeonpea is also emerging as an important crop for fodder, fuel and soil conservation in Southern China, where it has rapidly increased from almost zero cultivation in 1998 to about 3,000 hectares in 2001.

• Creation of the world’s first food legume hybrid to go into commercial production, demonstrating a 25% grain yield increase.

• Eco-friendly approaches for the management of the pod borer Helicoverpa armigera including the development of Pod borer tolerant varieties ICPL 88039 and ICPL 332.

Groundnut

• Several ICRISAT-derived varieties of groundnut have been adopted in seed-village programs in India. Varieties with resistance to leaf diseases and Aflatoxins have been developed. (Upadhayaya et al. 2002), but the extent of their spread is yet to be assessed.

• Based on an integrated disease management program adopted by farmers’ groups with respect to four varieties in the Deccan plateau, it is estimated that these varieties will be grown on about 500,000 hectares in 2003.

• Aflatoxin contamination of groundnut is a serious health hazard for humans and livestock.ICRISAT has developed a simple, robust, and cost-effective tool using Enzyme-LinkedImmuno Sorbant Assay (ELISA) that costs US$3 per sample against US$18 per sample using other methods.