Sugarcane Breeding Institute wins award for farm research

Sugarcane Breeding Institute (SBI), Coimbatore has been recognized with the ‘Sardar Patel Outstanding Institution Award’ for the year 2013. The award is in recognition of its performance among the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institutions and contributions to agricultural research. The institute has one regional centre at Karnal in Haryana and two research centres at Kannur and Agali in Kerala to take care of specific research needs.

The institute has developed the varieties which are cultivated not just in several parts of India, but also in many Asian and African countries as well. Co 86032 is the most popular sugarcane variety in the South and varieties such as Co 89003, Co 0238 and Co118, developed by the institute, occupy a predominant position in the North.

Besides, the institute which maintains the largest germplasm collection of sugarcane in the world has recently come up with energy-canes which are suited for biofuel applications.