ICAR–SBI, Coimbatore Celebrates 115 Years of Service to Indian Agriculture

Addressing the gathering, Dr Pathak congratulated the Institute and its staff on sustaining a remarkable legacy of over a century. He observed that the Institute predates the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and has made a significant contribution to Indian agriculture, with its impact extending to households across the country through sugar. He stated that more than 80% of India's sugarcane area is cultivated with ICAR–SBI's ‘Co’ varieties, highlighting the Institute's pivotal role in strengthening national sugar security.

Drawing an analogy from Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel Anandamath, Dr Pathak emphasised the importance of selfless dedication and commitment to institutional progress. He highlighted the changing agricultural landscape, marked by advances in science and technology, evolving climatic conditions, soil and water challenges, and rising societal expectations. He urged scientists to develop innovative, practical solutions to address these emerging challenges.

Dr Pathak highlighted opportunities for collaboration between ICRISAT and ICAR–SBI to accelerate sugarcane improvement through advanced genomic technologies, artificial intelligence, precision phenotyping and climate-resilient breeding. He also emphasised the diverse applications of sugarcane as a source of sugar, energy, feed, fuel and pharmaceutical products. Underscoring the potential of emerging technologies, he encouraged the integration of artificial intelligence into agricultural research and extension, and appreciated the Institute's recent research initiatives.

In his presidential address, Dr P. Govindaraj, Director, ICAR–SBI, highlighted the Institute's recent contributions to sugarcane varietal development. He informed that the Institute had released three varieties during the previous year: Co 18003, a high-quality variety for Peninsular India; Co 21003, a high-yielding variety for Tamil Nadu; and Co 18022, a mid-late maturing variety for the North West Zone.

Earlier, Dr Pathak presented the Sir T. S. Venkataraman Awards for outstanding research in sugarcane agriculture and the Best Thesis Award in sugarcane agriculture for the biennium 2024–25. He also presented Foundation Day Certificates of Appreciation and released new publications of the Institute.

The celebration was attended by more than 300 participants, including serving and retired staff of ICAR–SBI, marking 115 years of the Institute's contribution to sugarcane research and agricultural development in India.

(Source: ICAR–Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore)