CONTENTS VOLUME 23, No. 2 APRIL - JUNE 2012 Empowered Committee Reviewed Transgenic Project To review the progress of the NFBSFARA funded project on "Development of pod borer resistant transgenic pigeonpea and chickpea" the Empowered Committee (EC) of National Fund for Basic, Strategic & Frontier Application Research in Agriculture (NFBSFARA), ICAR, visited the Institute on June 27, 2012. Dr. Mangala Rai, Chairman, EC and former Director General (ICAR), Dr. Swapan K. Datta, Deputy Director General (CS), ICAR, Prof. S.K. Sen, IIT-Kharagpur, Dr. P. Ananda Kumar, Project Director, NRCPB, New Delhi, Dr. A. Bandyopadhyay, National Coordinator, NFBSFARA, New Delhi and project partners from IIPR participated in the review meeting. Dr. Mangala Rai, Chairman, EC, appreciated the efforts being made by different core groups and suggested for more sincere efforts for development of transgenic events and emphasized upon effective interactions between and within groups for streamlining a unified genotype independent transformation protocol for both the pulses. Efforts towards identification of potential insecticidal genes of proven efficacy should be at top priority. He reiterated that any back cross breeding programme in pulse transgenics should be taken up only after detailed characterization of the events at IIPR, Kanpur using both molecular techniques and insect bioassay. Dr. Swapan Datta, exhorted the need for gene pyramiding strategies, containment facility for year round activities in chickpea and pigeonpea and formation of biosafety group for transgenic biosafety evaluation, as component of transgenic development programme. He also added that all the transgenic chickpea and pigeonpea lines developed by the collaborating News 2-3  Annual Group Meet on AICRPs Research Highlights 3-6  New Varieties Identified  Host-Genotypic Influences on Rhizobial Symbiotic Performance  A Spontaneous Mutant in Pigeonpea  Mycorrhiza Enhanced Root Biomass and P-uptake in Lentil  Non-radioactive Based Detection of Transgenes in Chickpea  Induction of Embryogenetic Potential from Callus of Chickpea  Long-Term Effect of Nutrient Supply Systems on C-sequestration  Infestation of Rhyzopertha Dominica in Stored Mung and Urd  Occurrence of Predatory Coccinellids in Lentil Ecosystem  Dal Analogue from Pigeonpea Milling By-product  Utilizing Furrows in Permanent Raised Beds  Outbreak of Aphids in Summer Irrigated Blackgram of Tamil Nadu iz kS |ks fxdh gLr ka rj.k 7  d`"kdks a &nky fuekZ rk,oa oS Kk fudks a dh la ;q D r cS Bd vk ;ks ft r  tu tk rh ; i fj ; ks t ukds va rxZ r l keq nk f; d vknkuks a dkforj .k  d`"kd iz f'k{k .kvk ;ks ft r Director’s Desk 8 Dr. N. Nadarajan Chairman Dr. P.S. Basu Member Dr. M.S. Venkatesh Member Dr. Jitendra Kumar Member Dr. Naimuddin Member Mr. D. Upadhyaya Member Secretary EDITORIAL COMMITTEE