Agricultural Knowledge Management Unit

The Agricultural Knowledge Management Unit of NBPGR was established in 1997 as the ARIS Cell with the objectives of installation and maintenance of local area network (LAN) and connectivity with ARIS network of ICAR. In accordance with the progress of NBPGR, the domain of Unit’s operations has expanded into development & maintenance of NBPGR website, e-mail system, e-governance, etc.

The AKMU of NBPGR is the centre of PGR informatics activities of ICAR. The Unit has developed PGR databases and web portal as a completely in-house activity. The goal of AKMU is to provide easy on-line access to information about the germplasm conserved at the National Genebank located at NBPGR.

PGR Portal

The PGR Portal was developed as a completely in-house activity employing the skills, expertise and facilities available at the disposal of AKMU. The Portal was launched on 6th December 2012 by honorable Director General, ICAR and Secretary, DARE Dr. S Ayyappan at a gathering of PCs and PDs of AICRPs at NBPGR. Users can access the web-based PGR Portal at www.nbpgr.ernet.in/pgrportal. The quality of the interphase, speed of the response and ease of search are comparable to any of the PGR portals developed and maintained by CG genebanks or any national genebanks.

ItIt is pertinent to note that no information is made available on the PGR Portal de novo. All the information was already available in the public domain in the form of published catalogues (printed and electronic), proceedings, presentations, research papers, etc. Furthermore, the information available in the PGR Portal is about only those accessions which are conserved in the National Genebank at NBPGR. This was done to ensure supply of the material in case of requests (through NAGS/MTS). Care has been taken to display only such materials whose data correspond across multiple internal databases. As per the recommendation of the National Advisory Board on Management of Genetic Resources, the passport data to be displayed does not include information on villages and district. The passport data accessible by all include accession number, botanical name, collector number/other ID, variety/cultivar name, biological status, and source (only state in case of indigenous collection and country in case of introduction).

The motto of PGR Portal is enhanced utilization through greater access to information. The information provided through the PGR Portal is meant for researchers, farmers, students and policy makers. Anyone from anywhere on the globe can access the web-based PGR Portal. The access to and use of information contained in the PGR Portal is governed by principles of biodiversity conservation and use as well as relevant clauses of the extant intellectual property instruments.

AsCharacterization data include agro-morphological data recorded as per minimum descriptors. Some traits in the characterization data may include preliminary evaluation data such as yield parameters that are useful to the breeders. Evaluation data (displayed in the Portal as an extension of characterization data) is based on trait specific evaluation. As and when characterization activity yields more and more data they will be automatically added to the Portal. Similarly, specific evaluation data will also be added as and when they are available so that breeders can make use of the information. The information on the germplasm accessions available through the PGR Portal is a result of contributions of scientists of NBPGR since its inception. It also reflects numerous collaborative efforts among organizations of National Agricultural Research System of India.

Strengthening of PGR Database

The in-house PGR Database Management System comprising of “Passport, Gene bank and Evaluation Data” was strengthened by adding new records. This included plugging the gaps by retrieving and complementing missing records and corrections/completions in existing records from available resources to the extent possible. The database is now populated with data on ~460,000 indigenous collections (IC), 7,650,000 exotic collections (EC), 3,75,000 gene bank holdings and 90,000 germplasm characterization/evaluation data. The data entry / editing work on all PGR related tables are being carried upon directly in the database. The major stake holders in the PGR database activities viz; germplasm exploration, evaluation, exchange and conservation divisions have been sensitized towards its utilization and contributing their part in the same.

Acknowledgements

The AKMU (NBPGR) under the guidance of Dr. R.C. Agrawal. All the previous Directors and the current Director Dr. Kuldeep Singh have supported and inspired the developement of PGR Databases and the Dashboard respectively.