CICR

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CENTRAL INSTITUTE FOR COTTON RESEARCH

The Central Institute for Cotton Research was established at Nagpur in 1976.
With its head-quarters in Nagpur, It has regional stations in Sirsa, Haryana and Coimbatore , Tamilnadu.

The institute is spread over 427 acres and has 80 scientists, more than 200 technical, administrative and supporting staff. The institute has been recognized all over the world for its outstanding research on cotton improvement, development of production technologies and innovative crop protection strategies. It is very heartening to note that cotton production has increased significantly over the past five years. Cotton yields doubled to 315 lakh bales (170 kg lint/ bale), within just 5 years from a meager 165 lakh bales in 2001.

The Institute contributed immensely towards yield enhancement through its research findings that helped in developing remedial measures for the management of mealybugs, leaf reddening, and wilt problems which have recently become a menace, especially reducing yields of Bt-cotton. The role of farmers, scientists, private sector in introducing Bt-cotton, coupled with the role of Governmental agencies such as the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Science and Technology and ICAR, has been significant in taking cotton production to new heights. The institute played a stellar role in supporting research for the introduction and popularization of Bt-cotton in India . The institute scientists developed package of practices and appropriate strategies to optimize input use and maximize benefits from Bt-cotton.

The institute has also developed several genetically modified genotypes of Gossypium hirsutum and Gossypium arboreum ( Desi ) varieties incorporating cry1Ac, cry1F, cry1Aa3 genes for insect resistance, chitinase genes and viral coat protein genes for disease resistance. These varieties will be subjected to biosafety testing and are expected to be made available to farmers within the next 4-5 years, after approval of the GEAC. The institute is known all over the world for its pioneering work on molecular pathology especially on the geographical diversity of bacterial blight pathogens and also for the complete range of DNA based detection kits of all cotton pathogens. The institute has pioneered the development of immunological ELISA (Enzume linked immunosorbent assay) detection kits and DNA based PCR tests to detect genetically modified (GM) crops that express any of the Bt genes such as Cry1Ac, Cry2Ab, Cry1F, Cry1C and also with generic markers for NPT-II and UID-A. The institute has obtained several national and international patents in South Africa , China and Uzbekistan.

Central Institute for Cotton Research is located on the National Highway No.7 about 14 kms from the Nagpur Railway Station and about 5kms from the Nagpur Airport.