About Us

Enhancing climate resilience and ensuring food security with genome editing tools

Contact Info

Divison of Plant Physiology, ICAR-IARI, New Delhi - 110012

+91 9899426498

crispricar@gmail.com

ICAR-SBI, Coimbatore

ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore

SBI

Sugarcane Breeding Institute (SBI) is a central research institute in Coimbatore, India. It was established in 1912 and is affiliated to Indian Council of Agricultural Research. It was established to promote research efforts in sugarcane production and is the only sugarcane research institute in the country.

The sugarcane varieties introduced by the institute occupy more than 90% of total sugarcane cultivated area in India. The institute was involved in early research into hybridization, a first attempt to improve the subtropical types of sugarcanes. The first variety Co 205 was developed in 1918 based on wild sugarcane species Saccharum spontaneum and Saccharum officinarum resulted in 50 percent improvement in cane yield. The sugarcane varieties introduced were exported to Cuba and the United States.

In 2012, the institute developed transgenic sugarcane introducing new molecular technologies. In 2014, the institute introduced high energy sugar canes with high sucrose content which can be used for both commercial sugar extraction and biomass energy production. In 2015, a new sett treatment device was developed in collaboration with the Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering for treating the setts under reduced pressure to prevent them from fungal diseases. The institute introduced seven new varieties of sugarcane in 2015. CODISSIA organizes Agri Intex, an annual agricultural trade fair to promote agriculture and allied industries in association with SBRI. The 15th edition was organized in 2015 which included participants from over 10 countries