India announces $10M barcoding initiative

Focus on plants, insects and fishes

Plants, insects and fishes will take priority in a new $US10 million DNA barcoding initiative announced by the Director General of the Indian Council on Agricultural Research (ICAR), Dr. S. Ayyappan (pictured), during an international consultation on DNA barcoding held November 6-7 in New Delhi.

By year’s end, ICAR is looking to give the green light to three or four proposals in each category for a total of up to 12 projects drawing heavily on the expertise of ICAR specialist research institutes such as the Central Institute on Fisheries Education (CIFE) in Mumbai, the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources in New Delhi and the National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Insects in Bangalore.

Preparations for an imminent dramatic increase in DNA barcoding activity in India dominated the second day of the recent International Consultation, organized by CIFE Director Dr. Wazir Lakra, India’s representative on the iBOL Scientific Steering Committee.

One working session focused on identification of priorities for barcoding projects in India and an examination of models for organizing India’s participation as an iBOL Regional Node. Delegates discussed formation of a National Committee to launch and monitor projects, a national network to operate collaborative projects and the establishment of core barcoding facilities to carry out sequencing and provide training.

It was agreed that all the new ICAR-funded projects will use Barcode of Life Data Systems to store, organize and analyze their barcode data.

Barcode Bulletin Vol. 1, No. 4: Funds flow to barcode initiatives