New Delhi, Aug 5: In a major breakthrough for agricultural research, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has developed India’s first fully annotated telomere-to-telomere (T2T) genome of the pigeonpea variety ‘Asha’, a milestone expected to accelerate crop improvement and strengthen pulse production in the country.
The newly developed genome provides a complete genetic map of the pigeonpea plant, covering all 11 chromosomes and identifying more than 36,500 genes. Scientists say the achievement will help researchers better understand the crop’s genetic makeup and enable faster development of improved varieties.
ICAR develops India’s first fully annotated T2T genome of pigeonpea variety Ashahttps://t.co/OWWOAf4R9B
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The genome sequence, comprising 752.65 million base pairs, has been assembled with high accuracy and deposited in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database, making it available to researchers worldwide.
According to ICAR, the breakthrough will support precision breeding, gene discovery, and genome-editing research, allowing scientists to develop pigeonpea varieties that are more productive, climate-resilient, and resistant to pests and diseases.
Pigeonpea, commonly known as tur (arhar) dal, is one of India’s most important pulse crops and a major source of protein for millions of people. Improving its productivity is considered vital for enhancing food and nutritional security while increasing farmers’ incomes.
Agricultural experts believe the complete genome resource will significantly reduce the time required to identify beneficial traits, enabling the development of high-yielding varieties suited to changing climatic conditions.
The achievement marks an important step in India’s agricultural biotechnology journey and is expected to strengthen scientific research, support sustainable farming practices, and contribute to the country’s long-term food security goals.
