ICRISAT45Years – ICRISAT

On ICRISAT’s 45th anniversary, we take you on a journey of milestones that shaped the science we do today.

ICRISAT in the beginning

1 January, 1970

ICRISAT at its beginning
Caption: Construction of the main drain.

ICRISAT takes shape

1 February, 1970

Steps taken to set up a single research institute for semi-arid crops
Caption: The Foundation stone laid by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Others present were MS Swaminathan, Fred Bentley, AP Chief Minister J Vengal Rao and Ralph Cummings.

1970s Attention on aflatoxin

3 March, 1970

Pioneering science to help overcome the problem of aflatoxin in crops
Caption: Aflatoxin-infected groundnut.

1972 ICRISAT gets a logo

20 January, 1972

A security officer designs the first logo
Caption: ICRISAT’s first visual identity.

1975 Village Level Studies

1 August, 1975

Understanding socio-economic and other constraints to agricultural development
Caption: Village investigators gathering information from villagers.

1976 A Watershed moment

2 February, 1976

ICRISAT has always believed in environmentally friendly construction
Caption: A masonry check dam at Kothapally watershed, Telangana state, India.

1979 First farmers' day

27 January, 1979

Bringing together farmers and scientists to find solutions
Caption: ICRISAT throws its gates open on the first Farmer’s Day.

1979 Genebanks

27 January, 1979

Genebanks set up in Asia and Africa as insure against future seed loss
Caption: The genebank was started with a short-term storage facility.

1979 First marker-assisted pearl millet

1 June, 1979

A downy mildew resistant pearl millet hybrid
Caption: ICRISAT scientist C T Hash (in hat) with scientists, identifying an off-type plant in a field of HHB 67 –Improved.

1983 First ICRISAT varieties released

30 January, 1983

Sorghum and pearl millet varieties released for farmers in Sudan
Caption: Gebisa Ejeta with sorghum variety Hageen Dura.

1983 Queen Elizabeth II visits ICRISAT

30 January, 1983

The British queen gives her royal seal of approval for ICRISAT
Caption: Director General Leslie D Swindale welcomes Queen Elizabeth II.

1989 Short-duration chickpea

3 February, 1989

A wilt and heat resistant Kabuli variety for Asia and Africa
Caption: ICCV 2: The climate-smart variety for tropical environments.

1991 World’s first hybrid pigeonpea released

26 January, 1991

The world’s first hybrid of a pulse crop was a high yielding pigeonpea plant
Caption: ICRISAT scientist KB Saxena (extreme left) worked with partners to develop ICPH 8.

1994 Microdosing starts in Niger

31 January, 1994

Boosts productivity and increases drought and heat tolerance of crops
Caption: Microdoses of inorganic fertilizer for macro benefits.

1994 Sowing seeds of hope

2 February, 1994

Providing seeds during times of extreme crisis such as wars and earthquakes
Caption: Relief material being distributed in Latur, Maharashtra, following a massive earthquake.

1996 First CGIAR King Baudouin Award

26 January, 1996

Proud moment as first CGIAR center to win the award consecutively
Caption: The award conferred on ICRISAT for pearl millet improvement.

1996 Nobel laureate Norman Borlaug visits ICRISAT

5 February, 1996

Nobel winner endorses work done by ICRISAT scientists
Caption: Nobel Laureate Norman Borlaug on a tour of the ICRISAT campus.

1999 Start of core and mini core germplasm collection

27 January, 1999

Enhancing the use of germplasm in breeding programs globally
Caption: The ICRISAT genebank.

2000 Hybrid Parents Research Consortium

27 January, 2000

An innovative partnership for greater collaboration in agriculture
Caption: Seed company officials check out seeds of interest.

2000's Boost to infrastructure

3 February, 2000

Adding cutting edge technologies and facilities
Caption: President of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam inaugurating the greenhouse containment facility of the PTTC.

2004 Guinea race hybrids for West Africa

31 January, 2004

Unlocking the genetic potential of the dominant sorghum variety
Caption: Sorghum breeders from Mali and Burkina Faso collaborating in the development of Guinea race hybrids

2006 First CGIAR science award

31 January, 2006

Awards for the genebank and for outstanding partnership
Caption: ICRISAT’s genebank was one of the recipients of the Partnership award.

2006 ICRISAT adopts IGNRM research strategy

3 February, 2006

Adopted to maximize the synergies of agricultural research
Caption: Promoting greater synergy between biotechnology, plant breeding, agronomy, agroecosystems and social sciences.

2007 Ramadjita Tabo shares Nobel Peace Prize

27 January, 2007

Recognition for increasing awareness about man-made climate change
Caption: Ramadjita Tabo with his Nobel Peace Prize.

2007 Pro-poor BioPower strategy devised

30 January, 2007

Harnessing the power of sweet sorghum to make bio-fuel
Caption: AR Palaniswamy of Rusni Distilleries displaying ethanol extracted from sweet sorghum.

2008 World’s first commercial pigeonpea hybrid

27 January, 2008

Successfully bred after years of intense research
Caption: ICPH 2671, the world's first cytoplasmic male sterility-based pigeonpea hybrid.

2009 Platform for Translational Research on Transgenic Crops

30 January, 2009

Launched to help process and evaluate crops from the lab to the land
Caption: The hub of pipeline solutions to develop transgenic products.

2010 New Inclusive Market Oriented Strategy for 2020

30 January, 2010

Aimed at halving global poverty, hunger and malnutrition
Caption: The way to transit from subsistence to market-oriented agriculture.

2010 ICRISAT joins Molecular Breeding Platform

30 January, 2010

To revolutionize crop breeding and meet the challenges of food security
Caption: Revolutionizing crop breeding to meet food security challenges.

2011 Corporate Social Responsibility activities begin

26 January, 2011

Working closely with private partners to improve livelihoods of farmers
Caption: Partnering with PowerGrid Corporation of India Ltd in promoting watershed management interventions.

2011 ICRISAT-led global team cracks pigeonpea genome

27 January, 2011

Helps identify unique traits, like drought tolerance, in pigeonpea
Caption: 48,680 pigeonpea genes identified

2012 First marker-assisted sorghum varieties released in sub-Saharan Africa

26 January, 2012

Makes Striga resistant varieties of sorghum available to cultivate
Caption: One of the Striga-resistant varieties in the field.

2012 Promoting women entrepreneurship

26 January, 2012

Women entrepreneurs get a boost from agribusiness incubator
Caption: ALEAP President Mrs Rama Devi and KK Sharma exchange the MoA as Governor of Andhra Pradesh Honorable ESL Narasimhan looks on.

2012 Pigeonpea breeders develop a new CMS system

26 January, 2012

A new cytoplasmic-nuclear male sterility system for sustainability

2012 Providing knowhow to set up India's first private sector seed bank

26 January, 2012

A public private partnership to set up a seed bank
Caption: Preserving seed is key to crop diversity.

2013 Bill Gates visits ICRISAT

25 January, 2013

Recognizes the ability of ICRISAT’S research to help millions of farmers
Caption: Mr Bill Gates at ICRISAT’s lysimeter facility for phenotyping. Others in the photo, L-R: Drs Prem Warrior, David Hoisington, William Dar, and Vincent Vadez.

2013 High-iron biofortified pearl millet released in India

26 January, 2013

Dhanashakti is first biofortified crop to reach farmers’ fields
Caption: High-Iron pearl millet variety ICTP 8203Fe

2013 ICRISAT Ambassadors of Goodwill launched

26 January, 2013

To enlist the support of personalities to champion ICRISAT’s mission

2013 Two ICRISAT-led CGIAR Research Programs launched

27 January, 2013

As part of efforts to help reduce world hunger, malnutrition and poverty
Caption: At the launch of the ICRISAT-led CGIAR Research Programs on Grain Legumes and Dryland Cereals

2013 Genome sequence of 90 chickpea lines decoded

27 January, 2013

Leads to increased yield and enhanced traits in chickpea

2014 New significant investments in Africa

1 January, 2014

US$ 5 million to improve facilities and scientific skills
Caption: New investments to open up opportunities for collaborative research

2014 First Agribusiness incubator in West Africa

23 January, 2014

The West African Agri-Business Resource Incubator (WAARI) was inaugurated
Caption: Agribusiness products at the stalls set up by women cooperative groups.

2014 First peanut genome sequenced

27 January, 2014

To aid in breeding more productive and resilient varieties
Caption: Groundnuts/peanuts are an important crop both commercially and nutritionally.

2015 Finger millet now a mandate crop

30 January, 2015

Formally becomes ICRISAT’S sixth mandate crop
Caption: A smart food that is critical to nutrition in women and babies.

2015 Digital Agriculture initiatives launch

30 January, 2015

ICT-based technology to improve productivity of farmers
Caption: Dr David Bergvinson exchanging the MoU with Mr Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, Minister for Agriculture, Telangana State. Also seen are Mr KT Rama Rao, Minister for Information Technology & Panchayat Raj, Mr C Parthasarathi, Secretary and Agri Production Commissioner and others.

2016 Popularizing millets through product development

30 January, 2016

To breakdown the perception of millets as food for the poor
Caption: Dr Bergvinson demonstrating millet products to Mr Byre Gowda. Also seen is Dr Wani.

2016 First genome code of cultivated peanut cracked

30 January, 2016

Aimed at accelerating gene discovery and improved cultivars
Caption: A breakthrough that promises accelerated gene discovery and development of improved peanut ( groundnut) cultivars

2016 First Machine-harvestable chickpea variety released

1 February, 2016

To help address labor shortage and drudgery for women workers
Caption: A combine harvester harvesting NBeG 47, the first machine harvestable variety released in Andhra Pradesh.

2016 A new sowing application for farmers

2 February, 2016

Successfully minimizes loss of crops and increase yields
Caption: Timely information is critical to sowing for smallholder farmers.

2016 Smart Food initiative

2 February, 2016

Legumes and cereals are ‘good for you, good for the planet and good for farmers’
Caption: Smart foods are good for you, the planet and the smallholder farmer.

2016 Working in synchrony with the SDGs

6 June, 2016

Integrating ICRISAT’S research to achieve the SDGs by 2030

2017 Innovation hub for agri-tech entrepreneurs

3 July, 2017

Innovative digital technology in the service of smallholder farmers.
Caption: PS Reddy, Telangana Agriculture Minister and KT Rama Rao, Telangana IT Minister inaugurating the ihub.

2017 Pigeonpea genome re-sequenced

4 July, 2017

Breakthrough pigeonpea genome re-sequencing will lead to superior varieties.
Caption: ICRISAT scientists inspect pigeonpea accessions for agronomically important traits and disease resistance.

2017 Two new machine-harvestable chickpea varieties released

5 July, 2017

To foster demand-driven innovation
Caption: Demonstration on machine harvesting of chickpea variety Phule Vikram at a farmer’s field in Maharashtra.

2017 Plant disease and pest diagnostic app released

5 July, 2017

For early recognition and tailor-made treatment plans to overcome crop damage.
Caption: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu launches Plantix app at Vijayawada.

Pearl Millet Genome Sequence

8 September, 2017

Clue to pearl millet's heat tolerance may help fight climate chaos

Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Method (LAMP)

9 October, 2017

LAMP: A visual, fast and low-cost diagnostic device to fight a deadly, emerging disease

ICRISAT in the beginning

ICRISAT takes shape

1970s Attention on aflatoxin

1972 ICRISAT gets a logo

1975 Village Level Studies

1976 A Watershed moment

1979 First farmers' day

1979 Genebanks

1979 First marker-assisted pearl millet

1983 First ICRISAT varieties released

1983 Queen Elizabeth II visits ICRISAT

1989 Short-duration chickpea

1991 World’s first hybrid pigeonpea released

1994 Microdosing starts in Niger

1994 Sowing seeds of hope

1996 First CGIAR King Baudouin Award

1996 Nobel laureate Norman Borlaug visits ICRISAT

1999 Start of core and mini core germplasm collection

2000 Hybrid Parents Research Consortium

2000's Boost to infrastructure

2004 Guinea race hybrids for West Africa

2006 First CGIAR science award

2006 ICRISAT adopts IGNRM research strategy

2007 Ramadjita Tabo shares Nobel Peace Prize

2007 Pro-poor BioPower strategy devised

2008 World’s first commercial pigeonpea hybrid

2009 Platform for Translational Research on Transgenic Crops

2010 New Inclusive Market Oriented Strategy for 2020

2010 ICRISAT joins Molecular Breeding Platform

2011 Corporate Social Responsibility activities begin

2011 ICRISAT-led global team cracks pigeonpea genome

2012 First marker-assisted sorghum varieties released in sub-Saharan Africa

2012 Promoting women entrepreneurship

2012 Pigeonpea breeders develop a new CMS system

2012 Providing knowhow to set up India's first private sector seed bank

2013 Bill Gates visits ICRISAT

2013 High-iron biofortified pearl millet released in India

2013 ICRISAT Ambassadors of Goodwill launched

2013 Two ICRISAT-led CGIAR Research Programs launched

2013 Genome sequence of 90 chickpea lines decoded

2014 New significant investments in Africa

2014 First Agribusiness incubator in West Africa

2014 First peanut genome sequenced

2015 Finger millet now a mandate crop

2015 Digital Agriculture initiatives launch

2016 Popularizing millets through product development

2016 First genome code of cultivated peanut cracked

2016 First Machine-harvestable chickpea variety released

2016 A new sowing application for farmers

2016 Smart Food initiative

2016 Working in synchrony with the SDGs

2017 Innovation hub for agri-tech entrepreneurs

2017 Pigeonpea genome re-sequenced

2017 Two new machine-harvestable chickpea varieties released

2017 Plant disease and pest diagnostic app released

Pearl Millet Genome Sequence

Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Method (LAMP)

My wish for the drylands

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