Vision

Promoting Farmers-Participatory Seed Production
It is the most appropriate institutional form to mobilize farmers and build their capacity to collectively
leverage their production and marketing strength. Thus, the focus of department will be on
Farmers-Participatory Seed Production models at block level. It will consist of seed producing farmers’
group, seed processing enterprise and seed selling and marketing enterprise mainly catering to quality seed
requirement of the block at local level. The seed producing farmers’ group will be producing
foundation/certified seeds as per local demand from the breeder seed supplied by research institutes. The
processing unit will be having crop specific seed processing and packaging machineries besides seed storage
godown.

Initiating climate resilient smart breeding programmes
In the 21st century climate change is becoming more and more real and inevitable. From rising temperature,
which undermines the food production, to melting glaciers causing disastrous flooding and erosion, the
global repercussions of climate change are unprecedented. Drought alone is expected to reduce crop
productivity in half of the global arable land and it is estimated around 50% in the next five decades. In
western Rajasthan, a drought situation looms large in dozens of districts. Kharif crops are severely
affected by drought. Even availability of fodder and drinking water is becoming a challenge. The concept of
Smart breeding is an integration of conventional breeding strategies with advanced molecular, genomic and
phenomic tools to efficiently and effectively breed the resilient crop cultivars with enhanced yield
potential. New breeding approaches such as Rapid generation advancement (RGA), Doubled haploid (DH), Marker
assisted back crossing (MABC), Marker assisted recurrent selection(MARS), Genomic selection(GS)etc. have
breeding cycle along with efficient screening for specific biotic and abiotic stresses. These methods will
be essential to assist and accelerate genetic gain, but their application requires additional investment in
the understanding, genetic characterization and phenotyping for complex adaptive traits to be exploited for
climate resilient breeding in Mung, Mothbean, cluster bean and Chick pea.

Focus on breeding abiotic stress-tolerant crops:
Majority of crop losses are due to the abiotic stresses that causes more than 50 percent harvest losses. The
conventional plant breeding played a considerable role during the last century not only for improving the
quality and yield of crops, but also for improving abiotic stress tolerance including drought and salinity
tolerance. But it will take more time to develop abiotic stress tolerant varieties/hybrids. Combined
knowledge of traditional breeding along with marker assisted selection makes it easier and more efficient to
induce drought tolerance through the genotypic data in crop plants to enhance and sustain productivity in
drought prone environments. The present strategy is to develop MAS techniques which will accelerate the
breeding process, increase selection efficiency. New sources for abiotic stress tolerance need to be
exploited from wild relative and land races hybridization for generating potential to contribute abiotic
stress tolerance to grain crops in upcoming next 10 years as wild accessions and landraces that may provide
the highest number of tolerance genes are under-represented in many germplasm collections. Crop improvement
is the exploitation of genetic variability, followed by several generations of selection. These tools permit
an acceleration of the selection process, new genetic combinations that are not possible through
conventional breeding, and Greater precision in the desired modifications of the genome. Modern breeding
approaches like marker-assisted recurrent selection (MARS) and genomic selection (GS) to utilize the full
potential of genomics-assisted breeding for developing superior cultivars with enhanced tolerance to various
environmental stresses. The use of advanced-backcross (AB-backcross) breeding and development of specialized
populations such as multi-parents advanced generation intercross (MAGIC) for creating new variations that
will help in developing superior lines with broadened genetic base.

Initiating research on Tissue Culture:
Tissue culture can be exploited to create genetic variability from which crop plants can be improved, to
improve the state of health of the planted material and to increase the number of desirable germplasms
available to the plant breeder. Tissue culture techniques, in combination with molecular techniques, have
been successfully used to incorporate specific traits through gene transfer. In vitro techniques for the
culture of protoplasts, anthers, microspores, ovules and embryos have been used to create new genetic
variation in the breeding lines, often via haploid production. Somatic embryogenesis, a variation of
micro-propagation (where embryos are directly regenerated instead of shoots and roots), is being used widely
for date-palm, Ker, Khejri (Porosopis cineraria) and guggul and the species difficult to manage by
traditional breeding.

Mission

The Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding typically has several key mission:

• Crop Improvement: One of the primary objectives is to develop
new plant varieties with desirable traits such as high yield, disease resistance, tolerance to environmental
stresses (like drought or salinity), and improved nutritional content.

• Genetic Research: Conducting research to understand the genetic
basis of important traits in plants. This involves studying gene function, inheritance patterns, and genetic
variation within plant populations.

• Breeding Methods: Developing and implementing breeding methods
and techniques to efficiently transfer desirable traits from one plant variety to another. This includes
traditional breeding methods as well as modern biotechnological approaches such as marker-assisted selection
and genetic engineering.

• Varietal Evaluation: Evaluating the performance of new plant
varieties in field trials to assess their agronomic performance, yield potential, and adaptation to
different growing conditions.

• Seed Production: Facilitating the production and distribution of
high-quality seeds of improved plant varieties to farmers and seed companies.

• Training and Education: Providing education and training to
students, researchers, and agricultural professionals in the principles and practices of genetics, plant
breeding, and seed technology.

• Conservation: Conservation of plant genetic resources, including
the preservation of genetic diversity in crop plants through the establishment and management of germplasm
banks and conservation programs.

• Socioeconomic Impact: Assessing the socioeconomic impact of new
plant varieties on agricultural productivity, food security, farmer livelihoods, and environmental
sustainability.

Mandate

1. To impart quality education for human resource development.

2. To carry out research as per the requirement of the zone

Major acitivities:

Teaching and guiding of UG and PG students