Romance to remember: A journey of four decades

Romance to Remember: A Journey of 4 Decades

Suresh Pande Principal Scientist (Pathology)

Event: Seminar Venue: CF Bentley Conference Center Date: 12 April 2013

• Passion for nature

• Passion to profession

• Return to mountains

• Mountains to tropics

• Stint in the desert

• Ahead of time

• Acknowledgement

In this Journey:

Roots: Village Totarani, Dharmsala, Himachal Pradesh

Home: Where it all began ? In the lap of nature

In the lap of nature

Harcourt Butler Shimla

Walking to school

The First Lesson

From the first time that I can remember, I was passionately fond of Nature.

Oh ! It used to make me mad with joy when I saw the clouds come up in the sky one by one.

I felt, even in those early days, that I was surrounded with a companionship very intense and very intimate, though I did not know how to name it.

I had such an exceeding love for Nature that I can not think in what way to describe it; but she was with me, and always revealing to me some fresh beauty.

That’s how perhaps I learnt my first lesson of science.

The Three Questions

Why it is happening ?

How it is happening ?

What makes it happen ?

Mushrooms:

• Spawn • Compost • Casing • Edible • Poisonous

The first opportunity

Passion to Profession: Apple scab

Raw Recruit Researcher

Capping the Wheat Stem Rust before Ug 99

Return to mountains

ARS 1977: IARI Delhi- VPKS Almora

ARS 1977-80: IARI, Delhi- VPKS, Almora

Rust, Bunt, Smut: Wheat, Barley, Oats, and Triticales Blasts: Rice, Finger millet and other minor millets

Foliar diseases: Vegetables and legumes

Mountains to Tropics: ICRISAT 1980-2013

Focus: HPR, On-farm, Capacity building

Crop Period Disease Region

Sorghum 1980-1990 SDM, Charcoal rot, Anthracnose

Asia, Western Africa Southern Africa

Millet 1980-1990 Downy mildew Western, Southern Africa

Finger millet 1980-1990 Blast Eastern, Southern Africa

Groundnut 1990-2000 Rosette, Foliar Western Africa

Chickpea 1990-2013 Wilt, Root rots, Foliar Asia

Pigeonpea 2000-2013 Wilt, Sterility mosaic, Phytophthora blight

Asia

Sorghum Pathology 1980

Sorghum Downy Mildew: Dharwad

Innovation SDM Resistance Screening Technique- ToT- Zambia, Zimbabwe 1980’s

Field Incubator

Sandwich inoculation

News paper and Gunny bags

Infector row

Donor: SIDA

SDM: Panmure, Zimbabwe

SDM: Matopos, Zimbabwe

SDM: Golden valley, Zambia

Demonstrated the effect of: 1. Drought alone 2. Pathogen alone 3. Drought + Pathogen together

Epidemiology of Charcoal rot of Sorghum

Evaluation and Identification of Charcoal rot Resistance Non-senescence sorghums, ICRISAT

Evaluating severity of Charcoal rot in breeding material

Leaf spots, Smut and cooperators /ICRISAT Scientists at Mali

Sorghum Smut

Sorghum: Africa + Asia Collaboration

West Africa: Millet and Finger millet Downy mildew

Foliar diseases, Rosette, On-farm and ICGV 91114

Groundnut Pathology: 1990’s

Fungicides+Host plant resistance

On-Farm + Capacity Building

Farmers Participatory Identification of ICGV 91114

Expansion of ICGV 91114

Rosette of Groundnut Nigeria:

Stint in the Desert

Wheat Cultivation in the Desert

Potato Cultivation in the Desert

After Graduation in Desert, Return to ICRISAT

Golden Era: Opportunities

• Chickpea and pigeonpea diseases

• Changing scenario of diseases / pathogens

• Climate change and emerging diseases

• New science tools and plant pathogens

• Legumes in RWCS: IGP & RRFL

• Succession and mentoring

Chickpea Diseases and Their Management: HPR

Normal scenario (1970-2000)

Changed scenario (2001-2010)

Less frequent

More frequent

Changing Scenario of Chickpea Diseases

Pigeonpea Diseases and Their Management: HPR

Constraints to Chickpea Production

The 6 Bs: • Boron deficiency

• Bhilt (Wilt)

• Botrytis gray mold (BGM)

• Borer (Pod borer)

• Bruchids (storage pests)

• Blue Bull/Boar

ICM

IPM

INM

IDM

Approach Farmers Participatory Integrated Disease Management

On-Farm IDM of BGM in Chickpea, Nepal

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

1997

-98

1998

-99

1999

-00

2000

-01

2001

-02

2002

-03

2003

-04

2004

-05

Year

No

. o

f fa

rme

rs

Adoption

On-farm ICM in Chickpea in Nepal

On-Farm IDM of BGM in Chickpea, Bangladesh

Chickpea area expansion in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh from 2008-09 to 2011-12.

State

329.28

803.03

728.00

1520.62

Are

a (

ha

)

RRFL: IPPPT– On-Farm

IPPPT expansion at targeted village/ district/state : 2008-09 to 2011-12

Before IPPPT

After IPPPT

Chickpea area expansion at individual house hold

RRFL: IPPPT– On-Farm

Rajesh Dixit (farmer) Bahuribandh (village), Rewa (District), MP

Example: JAKI 315 (30kg seed = 10t)

I Chickpea in RRFL of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh: IPPPT

Looking Ahead

• Fungal Genomics

• Climate Change

Isolate : Most virulent Platform: Illumuna Hi Seq200

Seq. Coverage 378.6x

Assembly size (Mb) 64.3

Total contig length (Mb) 61.9

Scaffolds 1241

Contigs 3899

Contig N50 (kb) 69

GC (%) 47.97

Predicted protein-coding genes

18104

tRNAs 302

SSR 1464

Transposable elements 4.48%

Gene Statistics of Foc

F. oxysporum f sp. ciceris Whole genome sequencing

0 h 2 h 24 h

Total Gene expressed in each event during conidial morphogenesis

12679 12387 12917 12888

F. oxysporum f sp. ciceris: Transcriptome analysis

6 h

Comparative gene expression between events

Establishment of CoE- CCRPP

CoE- CCRPP: Infrastructure

Establishment of new facilities

Open Top Chamber (OTC)

CoE- CCRPP: Infrastructure

Establishment of new facilities

Open Top Chamber (OTC) Ventilation controlled chamber

Plant Growth Chambers with RH, Temp, CO2 Facility

Acknowledging encouragements

Dave

Acknowledging the Adventures

Acknowledging Mentors, Colleagues

Acknowledging Colleagues in Legumes Pathology

ICRISAT is a member of the CGIAR Consortium

Thank you!