New Public-Private Partnership for Hybrid Rice in India

The Indian Institute of Agricultural Research (IARI), a flagship research institute of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), has developed a very effective public-private-partnership model for promotion of hybrid rice in India. IARI, Indian Foundation Seeds and Services association (IFSSA), and Barwale Foundation had earlier signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) for seed multiplication of parental lines of Pusa RH 10, the first super fine grain aromatic rice hybrid developed by IARI. In addition to IFSSA, IARI also signed a memorandum of understanding with 18 other seed companies to produce hybrid seed of Pusa RH 10. The partnership with IFSSA helped the area under Pusa RH 10 to reach nearly 0.5 million ha during Kharif (crop) season 2008.

Dr. B. R. Barwale, Chairman of IFSSA and Barwale Foundation, handed over a payment of Rs. 34.62 lakhs to Dr. S. A. Patil, Director, IARI, New Delhi from the sale of parental lines of Pusa RH 10. The function was graced by Dr. Mangala Rai, ICAR Director General, ICAR, who noted the effective public-private partnership leading to promotion of hybrid rice technology, a key to sustainable food security.

For more information about this public private partnership model, contact Dr. A.K. Singh of IARI at ak_gene@yahoo.com, and Dr. Dinesh Joshi of IFSSA and Barwale Foundation at dineshjoshi@barwalefoundation.org For more information about biotech development sin India contact b.choudhary@cgiar.org and k.gaur@cgiar.org.