Tissue Culture Technology will bring second Green Revolution in world: Jt. Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, GoI

Noida, November 3, 2017: Sir Richard Roberts Centre for Genetically Modified Organisms, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, in association with Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Biotech Consortium India Ltd. (BCIL) organized a five day “Indo- African Training Programme” on ‘Virus Indexing and Genetic Fidelity Testing of Tissue Culture Plants for African Candidates’ which concluded today at Amity University Campus,Sector-125, Noida.
15 delegates from 9 African countries attended the Training Programme that aimed at apprising delegates about the effectiveness of virus indexing and genetic fidelity testing as important parameters for the Tissue Culture Plants and to provide hands on training, enabling them to replicate the success of Indian Plant Tissue Culture Industry in African Countries
Dr. Neena Malhotra, Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India, Dr. Purnima Sharma, Managing Director, Biotech Consortium India Ltd. and Dr. Suman Govil, Sr. Advisor, Dept. of Biotechnology, Govt. of India were present during the valedictory ceremony.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Neena Malhotra, Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India said that in India and African countries, agriculture is a significant sector to ensure food security. She apprised that the Government of India has been organizing various training programmes to spread awareness about new technologies and methods in agriculture amongst farmers and trainers of both the countries. Dr. Malhotra apprised that Green Revolution had placed India on top of the global map and now, tissue culture technology will bring second Green Revolution. Dr. Malhotra highlighted that tissue culture is an important technique for the growth in productivity of crops. She expressed her hope that the training programme would help in the agricultural development of African Countries.
Addressing the gathering, Dr. Suman Govil, Sr. Advisor, Dept. of Biotechnology, Govt. of India said that the five day training has helped the participants from African countries to gain training and knowledge about Tissue Culture. Subsequently, they will utilize this information for development of agriculture in their country. She emphasized that tissue culture is an important tool and stressed that diversification in crop cultivation is needed. Dr. Govil averred that there is still lot various areas in this domain which requires research and innovation.
Sharing her views, Dr. Purnima Sharma, Managing Director, Biotech Consortium India Ltd. said that such training programmes are important for nutrition and economic food security. She further lauded the efforts of Amity University for conducting the training programme and praised the research and innovation work by the Researchers & Scientists of Amity.
Mr. Halilu Buba Tambul thanked Government of India, BCIL and Amity University and said that he has gained lot of information and knowledge about new agricultural techniques. He mentioned that after this training, he feels empowered and capable to contribute significantly for the development of his Nation.
During the day, the participants were taken for a campus round wherein they appreciated the incubator facility, laboratories, state of art library and contemporary infrastructure of Amity.