National Institute of Biotic Stress Management

Approval of new institute of "National Institute of Biotic Stress Management" Scheme during the XII Plan (2012-17)

The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal of Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Research and Education for the establishment of the National Institute of Biotic Stress Management (NIBSM) at Raipur (Chhattisgarh) during the 12th Five Year Plan at a cost of Rs.121.10 crore.

The National Institute of Biotic Stress Management (NIBSM) at Raipur (Chhattisgarh) is proposed to be established as a deemed University with the following schools:

School I - Crop Health Management Research

School II - Crop Health Biology Research (CHBR)

School III - Crop Resistance System Research (CRSR)

School IV- Crop Health Policy-Support Research (CHPR)

The mandate of the Institute would be

(i) to enhance the productivity of crops by creating novel mitigation measures to biotic stresses in agriculture;

(ii) carry out research on the multiple causes that causes biotic stresses, and develop technologies that would effectively deal with prentices pestilence;

(iii) provide scholastic leadership in frontier areas of research in the field of biotic stresses, by developing curricula for agricultural universities and other institutions in India;

(iv) to build capacity for state of the art research in the area of biotic stress by awarding Post Graduate Doctoral and Post-Doctoral Degrees

(v) develop policy support for research in biotic stress management.

Background:

There is growing demand for food, fodder and feed. A healthy growth in the GDP is likely to further boost domestic demand for food. About 53 per cent of the food demand escalation is expected to occur due to growth in population and the rest due to improved per capita consumption. The current production and the projected demand by the year 2020, are 245 and 284 million tonnes of food grain, 138 and 160 million tonnes of vegetables, 74 and 97 million tonnes of fruits, and 32 and 69 million tonnes of oilseeds respectively. As the net cultivable area of 142 million hectares is not likely to increase, the gain in food production will have to be met by increasing productivity. There is need, therefore, for a renewed and vigorous effort to increase productivity and production through the "Second Green Revolution".

Plant protection has been one of the crucial farm production strategies that have been pursued over the last few decades to enhance crop production. Garnering the genetic potential of the crop species requires reducing the potential to yield gap. Major research efforts in the past have largely focused on deriving crop resistance to biotic stresses through conventional breeding approaches, with a view to selecting the most pest resistant varieties. However, organisms which cause biotic stress also adopt to selection pressures, making it more and more difficult to find pest resistant varieties through convention breeding approaches.

Consequently, there is a need to focus research efforts on the larger issue of pest biology and ecological management and the inter-relationships between the host plant, the pest and the agricultural ecology. In other words, a larger and more holistic approach to understanding the issue of biotic stresses is required, as conventional breeding approaches while being very useful, have their limitations.

As our agricultural ecology comes under increasing pressure, including from the impacts of climate change, there will be a need for more scientists to study and research the issue of biotic stresses. Therefore, there is also a need for specialized capacity building in this area of frontier research, by undertaking specialized Post Graduate, Doctoral and Post-doctoral programmes.

Indian Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology