Academic Department
Plant Breeding & Genetics
Constituent Department under Biswanath College of Agriculture
The department of Plant Breeding & Genetics came into existence in 1989 with the mandate of undergraduate teaching and to undertake basic and applied research in the field of Plant Breeding. The teaching programme of the department started with placement of only one faculty member (Lt. Dr. L. P. Upadhyaya) but subsequently the department was joined by other faculty members. The department offers the elective courses along with the compulsory core courses. The courses under Agricultural Biotechnology are also being offered by the department. In the year 2018, the Post Graduate Programme was introduced in the Department by enrollment of three students. At present the enrollment capacity under PG programme is six students per batch. The present faculty strength in the department is 4 (four) out of which 2 (two) are in the position of Professor and 2 )(two) are in the rank of Asst. Professor.
| # | Course No. | Course Title | Credit | Syllabus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ABT (Elect) 313 | Plant Tissue culture and Micropropagation technologies | 3 (2+1) | |
| 2 | ABT 323 * | Principles of Plant Biotechnology | 3 (2+1) | — |
| 3 | PBG (Elect) 323 | Commercial Plant Breeding | 3 (2+1) | — |
| 4 | PBG 123 * | Fundamentals of Genetics | 3 (2+1) | |
| 5 | PBG 213 * | Fundamentals of Plant Breeding | 3 (2+1) | |
| 6 | PBG 223 * | Principles of Seed technology | 3 (2+1) | — |
| 7 | PBG 313 * | Crop Improvement- I (Kharif) | 3 (2+1) | — |
| 8 | PBG 323 * | Crop Improvement- II (Rabi) | 3 (2+1) | — |
| 9 | PBG-123 * | Fundamental of Genetics | 3 (2+1) |
* indicates compulsory courses.
| # | Course No. | Course Title | Credit | Syllabus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ABT 501 | Principles of Biotechnology | 3 (2+1) | — |
| 2 | PBG 501 * | Principles of Genetics | 3 (2+1) | — |
| 3 | PBG 502 * | Principles of Cytogenetics | 3 (2+1) | — |
| 4 | PBG 503 * | Principles of Plant Breeding | 3 (2+1) | — |
| 5 | PBG 504 * | Principles of Quantitative Genetics | 3 (2+1) | — |
| 6 | PBG 506 | Population Genetics | 2 (1+1) | — |
| 7 | PBG 507 | Heterosis Breeding | 3 (2+1) | — |
| 8 | PBG 510 | Breeding for Biotic and Abiotic Stress Resistance | 3 (2+1) | — |
| 9 | PBG 591 | Master's Seminar | 2 (1+1) | — |
* indicates compulsory courses.
Department Achievements & Accolades
3 Records
Initiated soybean breeding works under AICRP on Soybean through collection of germplasm and maintenance, generation of breeding materials through crossing programme followed by selection and evaluation. Soybean varieties, RKS 18, JS 97-52 and BNS 5 were identified as having high germinating ability (> 90 %). BNS 5, which was developed at the BNCA centre, was identified for recommendation for four climatic zones of Assam (LBV. UBV. NBP, H). Non-pubescent genotypes were identified as resistant to pre-harvest sprouting. Under saturated soil condition, soybean genotypes JS 95-60, JS 97-52, BNS 5 and Kalitur were identified as suitable. Few genotypes were identified which were found to be resistant to collar rot disease. The desirable soybean lines with respect to different traits are being tested at AAU, Jorhat after the transfer of the Project from BNCA.
Experiments conducted under AICRP on Soybean resulted in obtaining useful findings with respect to production technology on the basis of which the following recommendation were made:
(a) For late sowing condition of Assam 1st week of August sowing using soybean varieties JS 97-52 and RKS 18 is
most suitable.
most suitable.
(b) Ridge-furrow soybean planting (varieties, RKS 18 and JS 97-52) should be adopted for rice fallow areas of Assam.
(c) Application of crop residue @5t/h+ FYM @5th+Zinc @ 5kg/h would be an effective integrated nutrient management practice of soybean based cropping system in NE India.
The 43rd Annual Group Meeting of AICRP on Soybean was successfully organized by the department at AAU, Jorhat from 01/05/2013 to 03/05/2013.
The institutional Biotech Hub was established with the financial assistance from the DBT, Govt. of India in the year 2010. The objective of the Biotech Hub is to build up capacity in teaching and research in the area of Biotechnology and allied sciences in the host as well as other institutes of the region. Since then the Biotech hub has been supporting the ongoing practical classes of the Biotechnology courses along with partly supporting the other related courses. Moreover, through various training, workshops and outreach programmes, the hub has been extending capacity building services to various academic institutions including schools and colleges of the North Bank Plain Zone of Assam. Under this hub a molecular biology laboratory along with tissue culture facilities have been established. Since the inception of the Biotech Hub, the host institution has been able to earn a number of competitive projects from DBT and other funding agencies. In 2016, the Biotech Hub was promoted to Advanced Level Institutional Biotech Hub and currently it has been rated with “Excellent” rank by DBT, Govt of India and has considered for up gradation into Advanced Level Institutional Biotech Hub in Leadership Role.
With the financial assistance from the Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India in the form of the Adhoc project, “Establishment of Field Gene Bank and Micropropagation Unit of indigenous medicinal plants genetic resources of North East India”, a field gene bank of Medicinal Plant Genetic Resources was established in an area of three hectare of land. A total of 1392 samples of propagules were collected and after elimination of possible duplicates a total of identified species comprising of 95 trees, 86 herbs, 57 creepers and 124 shrubs were put in the main field. The gene bank is expected to serve as the source of experimental materials for various researchers, parent materials for propagation and also for various academic purposes.
Research & Extension Projects
18 Total Projects
Ongoing Projects (7)
Vikshit Bharat @2047
DBT-NER Advance-level institutional biotech hub at B.N. College of Agriculture, AAU, Biswanath, Assam (Phase-II)
Corpus fund for Medicinal Plant
Development and application of orgenellar genome specific SSR markers in Rice
Establishment of Model Nursery of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
Establishment of Field Gene Bank Micropropagation Unit of indigenous medicinal plant genetic resources of North EasT India
Advanced Level Institutional Biotech Hub
Completed Projects (11)
Genetic studies to understand mitochondrial electron transport chain dysfunction using Caenorhabditis elegans.
(PI/Co-PI/Associated Scientist : Dr. Aiswarya Baruah)
Study of mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) dysfunction that modulates aging and development in C. elegans through CEP-1, the worm homolog of mammalian p53
(PI/Co-PI/Associated Scientist : Dr. Aiswarya Baruah)
DST-WoS-A Project “Marker Assisted Genetic Analysis of Synchrony in Greengram”
(PI/Co-PI/Associated Scientist : Dr. Shazmira Zaman )
Increased Availability of Ramie Fibre for Industrial Utilisation through INM schedule under Consortia research platform on Natural Fibre
(PI/Co-PI/Associated Scientist : Dr. Manoj Kumar Sarma)
Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) for popularization of soybean cultivation
(PI/Co-PI/Associated Scientist : Dr. Jayanta Bhuyan)
Cataloging of Phytoplasma diseases of major crops of North East Region of India and its molecular characterization.
(PI/Co-PI/Associated Scientist : Dr. Manoj Kumar Sarma)
Standardization of Micro cutting techniques of Bhot jalakia (Hottest chilli of Assam) for commercial supply of virus free seedling
(PI/Co-PI/Associated Scientist : Dr. Manoj Kumar Sarma)
Molecular mapping and construction of linkage map of Yellow mosaic Virus (YMV) resistance in Soybean (Glycine max)
(PI/Co-PI/Associated Scientist : Dr. Manoj Kumar Sarma)
NICRA, Govt. of india
(PI/Co-PI/Associated Scientist : Dr. Manoj Kumar Sarma)
Development, standardization and dissemination of technologies for increasing production and productivity of bamboo and bamboo based cropping system
(PI/Co-PI/Associated Scientist : Dr. Manoj Kumar Sarma)
AICRP on Soybean
Department Photo Gallery
1 Photos