Dr Jitendra Singh Inaugurates Indigenous SPROUT Facility at BRIC-NIPGR

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences and MoS PMO, Dr. Jitendra Singh today inaugurated the “SpeedSeed Phenotyping and Resource Optimization for Unified Trait Analysis” (SPROUT) facility at BRIC-National Institute of Plant Genome Research (BRIC-NIPGR), New Delhi, describing it as an important indigenous capability for developing climate-resilient crops suited to different weather conditions.

The Minister said that in a country as geographically and agro-climatically diverse as India, the ability to study and evaluate crops under different environmental conditions is critical for strengthening agricultural resilience. The Minister said the initiative is part of the wider BioE3 policy and the biotechnology push of the Modi Government, under which simultaneous breakthroughs are taking place in plant biotechnology as well as human biotechnology. The BioE3 policy itself includes climate-resilient agriculture among its strategic thematic sectors.

The event was attended by Prof. Manoj Prasad, Director, BRIC-NIPGR; Dr. Senthil K. Muthappa, BRIC-NIPGR; and Dr. Nitin Jain, Scientist-H, Department of Biotechnology (DBT). During the programme, Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated the SPROUT facility and planted a sapling under the “Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam” campaign. He also interacted with scientists and officials of BRIC-NIPGR.(UPDATED ON 15TH SEPT 2026)