Pomegranate Genome cv. Bhagawa Released

24^th & 25^th September 2022

In a path-breaking development for genome research and Horticultural Science in India, a team of scientists has completed the genome sequencing and chromosome level assembly of pomegranate cv. Bhagawa.

The ICAR-National Research Centre on Pomegranate, Solapur has released the Reference Quality Genome Assembly of Indian pomegranate cv. Bhagawa for press and media on 24^th September under Chairmanship of the Dr. A.K. Singh, Deputy Director General  (Horticultural Science) and the same has been released at a public event on 25^th September, on the occasion of 18th foundation day of ICAR-NRCP.

The team involved in this landmark research comprised Dr. N.V. Singh, Dr. P. Roopa Sowjanya, Dr. Shilpa Parashuram, Dr. P.G. Patil and Dr. R.A. Marathe from  ICAR-NRCP, Solapur.

The reference-quality genome assembly of the ‘Bhagawa’ developed by ICAR-NRCP is a huge reservoir of publicly accessible genomic resources for pomegranate researchers across the globe and will provide a great impetus to the pomegranate improvement programme in India.

Dr. A. K. Singh emphasized that with the Government’s recent emphasis on steering agriculture more towards cash crops, the achieving of this full sequencing of pomegranate is very timely. He said the higher yield and good quality disease-resistant fruits with a higher shelf life would help in enhancing the farmers’ income and thereby improving their lives. Pomegranate supports the livelihood security of an estimated 2.5 lakh farm families mostly in climatically and edaphically-challenged regions, he added. Dr. Singh also said that it has been estimated that India exports an abysmal 2-3% of its indigenous production which is far below its real potential and with the achievement of the sequencing and development of even higher quality fruits, India’s export value for pomegranate in the international market will multiply several-fold in a very short period of time.

Dr. R. A. Marathe, Director, ICAR-NRCP said as India has ramped up production in recent years and is a world leader in Pomegranate production with a 50% contribution in global production, India’s domestic capacity as well as export potential has still remained largely unrealized. This has been due to an assortment of reasons including the limited availability of genomic resources and molecular information about this highly remunerative crop, he added. Dr. Marathe said sequencing of the whole genome of Pomegranate will open up incredible avenues for vastly improving productivity, quality, and resilience of improved varieties against biotic and abiotic stresses at much faster pace.

(Source: ICAR-National Research Centre on Pomegranate, Solapur)