ICRISAT and Corteva Agriscience collaborate for sharing advanced breeding technologies

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and Corteva Agriscience™, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont, inked a multiyear partnership to strengthen food security by improving crops that feed millions through sharing of high-tech and modern breeding technologies.

A Master Alliance Agreement (MAA) was signed between Peter Carberry, Director General (Acting), ICRISAT, and Tom Greene, Senior Research Director, Corteva Agriscience™.

The technology sharing includes CRISPR-Cas gene editing, adapting transformation techniques to new crops, and applying knowledge of plant biochemical pathways with the goal of productivity and quality improvements for crops.

DuPont Pioneer, now part of Corteva Agriscience™, will provide access to intellectual property, material and know-how related to CRISPR-Cas and plant transformation.

Tom Greene, Corteva Agriscience™, said: "We look forward to applying the cutting-edge technology, like CRISPR-Cas, to address challenging crop production and consumer-facing quality problems. The combination of experience from our scientists and refinement of new technologies offer promising areas of research and development for select crops that don’t receive enough attention, even though these crops feed millions."

The plan to work together on crops such as sorghum and millet was solidified at a meeting during the 2017 World Food Prize where ICRISAT Director General David Bergvinson and Tom Greene of Corteva Agriscience™ outlined general research concepts, targets and available technology that would help drive solutions.

Corteva Agriscience™ is applying CRISPR-Cas as an advanced plant breeding tool to develop crops with greater environmental resiliency, productivity and sustainability.