ACTIVITIES AT SBI DURING FEBRUARY 2003:

1.  Dr. M. Balamuralikrishnan, Scientist (Plant Pathology) attended a Winter School on “Biological, serological, electron microscopic, tissue culture and molecular techniques for the early detection and elimination leading to management of plant viruses in agro-ecosystem perspectives” conducted by TNAU, Coimbatore from Jan 19 to Feb 18, 2003.

2. Dr. P. Govindaraju, attended a training programme on Plant Genetic Engineering and Molecular Biology at National Research Centre for Plant Biotechnology (NRCPB) at New Delhi from Dec 1, 2002 To Feb 15, 2003.

3. Smt. R. Nirmala (T-4, Entomology) was deputed for a six month’s training course (from March - August, 2003) at Project Directorate of Biological Control, Bangalore.

4. Dr. V.A. Amalraj, Principal Scientist attended the meeting to finalize the DUS guideline for Sugarcane at IARI, New Delhi on Feb 3, 2003.

5. Dr. N. Subramoniam, Principal Scientist attended the inaugural meeting on Transgenic Crops at NRC-PB at New Delhi on Feb 10, 2003.

6. Dr. R. Nagarajan, Principal Scientist attended the meeting on Breeder Seed Production on Feb 11, 2003 at NBPGR, New Delhi.
7. Mr. Mehul Patel of APPROTECH, Surat gave a talk on Porous Pipe Sub-Surface Irrigation System on Feb 15, 2003 with a demonstration on the system.

8. The 63rd Meeting of the Management Committee of this Institute was held on February 17, 2003.

9. Mr. R. Balakrishnan, Principal Scientist gave a seminar on “Core collections of plant genetic resources” on February 19, and Dr. R. Thiagarajan, Senior Scientist gave a talk on “Participatory extension approaches for sugarcane development” on Feb 26.

10. Science Day was organized on Feb 28, 2003. Field visits and popular lectures were arranged on the occasion. Lectures on (a). Plant Genetic Transformation, (b). DNA based markers in sugarcane, (c). Application of molecular techniques in plant breeding, (d). Molecular basis of disease resistance in plants, and (e). Fifty Years of Double Helix: Milestones and Legends were given by the Scientist of this Institute.

11. Technical and Administrative staff members, viz., Mr. K. Vasantha Kumar, Mr.T. Shunmuganathan, Mrs. T. Lalitha, Mr. S. Elayaperumal and Mr. N.M. Shunmugam attended a one-day training on HRD organized by FICCI, Coimbatore on Feb 28, 2003.

General

The Institute is facing a severe drought since June 2002 with the water table going down considerably due to lack of recharge of the acquifier on account of total lack of flow in the East Chittirai Chavadi (ECC) Channel. Several of the bore wells have gone dry and the yield levels in the experimental plots have gone down by nearly 25-30%. This situation is being utilized to identify and select sugarcane genotypes tolerant / resistant to drought during the grand growth phase. The impact of the drought was perceived in the form of initial low sucrose levels during October-December followed by enhanced sucrose levels during February-March. Several clones were identified which had faster recovery after drought with no or very little reduction in stalk weight. The experimental material are being evaluated for yield and quality and planting operations are going on.

Scientists Shri. Subramaniam and Dr. Chinnaraj of TNPL visited the Institute to have a discussion on the use of wild species of Saccharum and allied genera and their faster multiplication through tissue culture.

The Institute has been invited to participate in the Agritex 2003 organized by Coimbatore District Small Scale Industries Association to be held in September, 2003.

The seed from 2002 crossing season has been sown. The germination is very good. But keeping in view of the prevailing drought situation, bulk of the seed has been processed and stored in deep freezers top be sown later if the drought situation improves.