Karnataka and ICRISAT to breed Climate change resistant millets

Karnataka plans to launch a Consortium to breed improved millets that could withstand prolonged heat and cold conditions in its ongoing effort to increase productivity of highly nutritious crops in arid regions of the state .

Karnataka Minister for Agriculture Krishna Byregowda said at ICRISAT today an MOU will be signed with the Icrisat and the Bangalore based National Centre for Biological Sciences to embark on this ambitious project.

“This will be purely a genome based breeding programme and not a project for producing genetically modified (GM) crops,” he said adding that five millets except pearl millet will be taken up for breeding.