Gene bank opened in Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Coimbatore: Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), a pioneer in agricultural research and technology development, today opened Gene Bank facility on its campus. The Rs1.2 crore bank, provided by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, was the first of its kind in any State Agricultural University in the country and was meant for conservation of genetic resources for future use, Dr P Murugea Bhoopathi, TNAU Vice-Chancellor, said at the inaugural function.

Germplasm collections of cultivars, land races and wild species would be maintained in the Gene Bank and it has an estimated 3,000 cubic feet of cold storage space for medium storage and long term storage of plant genetic resources. It was planned to store nearly 50,000 germplasm entries, including land races and wild species, apart from commercially cultivated varietie crops like rice, millets,pulses, oilseeds, cotton, forages, fruits, vegetables, spices,medicinal and aromatic plants, forest treets and bioenergy crops, Dr K Thiyagarajan, Director, Centre for Plant Breeding and Genetics, TNAU, said. The estimated storage life of seeds without loss of viability was likely to be five to 20 years, depending upon the nature of seed, he said.