Kozhikode: The need to maintain a single biodiversity database at the national level was stressed at ‘Hortinformatics 2010,' a two-day programme held at the Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR).
Scientists and researchers from research scientific institutes across the country, who attended the event, also suggested that the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) should set in place a system for exchanging huge databases related to biodiversity available in various institutes. ‘Hortinformatics 2010,' a national consultative meet on bioinformatics in horticulture which concluded on Tuesday, was jointly organised by IISR and Department of Biotechnology.
During the four interactive sessions, the speakers also highlighted the importance of biodiversity database, DNA bar-coding, biodiversity informatics of plant-associated bacteria and insect genomics.
Improving crops
The session on cheminformatics called for extending the research on bioinformatics to improve crops like brinjal and okra. A spokesman for IISR later said the session on biodiversity had a special significance as the year 2010 had been declared as the International Biodiversity Year. IISR Director V. Parthasarathy, programme convener S.J. Eapen, agriculture scientists M.G. Bhat and M. Anandaraj, and Deputy Director General (Horticulture) of ICAR H.P. Singh spoke. Dr. Singh called for proper documentation of biodiversity of Andaman and Nicobar islands.
The meet brought together bioinformatics experts working in various fields like horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries, avian, insects, and micro organisms. Around 100 delegates participated in the event.
Source:The Hindu, 13-10-2010
No comments:
Post a Comment