RA 00015.pdf - OAR@ICRISAT

the University of Reading, U K , for testing their
reactions to Cercospora leafspot. In addition,
406 cultivars -comprising germplasm lines, disease
resistant material, released cultivars, and
genetic marker lines -were received from North
Carolina and Georgia in the USA, Japan, Puerto
Rico, and Zambia.
In other crops, 259 samples of Acacia, beans,
Bermuda grass, corn, cowpea, Cicer herbarium,
jojoba, Leucaena latisiliqua, Phaseolus atropurpureus,
Setaria, and Sesamum were cleared at the
National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources,
New Delhi for the Farming Systems and Crop
Improvement programs.
Quarantine Regulations
for Release of Pearl Millet
and Groundnut Imports
Pearl Millet: The ICAR Quarantine Committee
on pearl millet seed imports recommended on
21 Dec 1976, certain procedures that, if followed,
would permit pearl millet seed to be introduced
without the risk of the introduction of pearl
millet downy mildew. The procedures were:
(i) seed should be collected from downy mildewfree
plants; (ii) seed should be physiologically
mature, dry, and treated with fungicides before
despatch; and (iii) on arrival the seed should be
soaked in a 1:1000 solution of HgCl 2 for 10
minutes, then immediately washed in four
washes of sterile water. After washing, the seed
be transferred immediately into a water bath set
at 55°C for 12 minutes. Following the water
bath, the seed should be placed in an incubator
set at 35° C for 12 hours and then at 40°C for an
additional 12 hours. This procedure was followed
by the quarantine officers at Central Plant
Protection Training Institute and 124 samples of
pearl millet seed imported from West Africa were
released to us for planting in the Post-Entry
Quarantine Isolation Area at ICRISAT Center.
However, in view of a letter received from
Dr. Neergaard, Director General of the Danish
Institute of Seed Pathology for Developing
Countries in Copenhagen, in Feb 1977, on his
Institute's inability to guarantee the hot-water
treatment of pearl millet seed for purposes of
quarantine clearance, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan,
Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural
Research, organized a meeting of ICRISAT
and Indian government scientists in April 1977
to review the quarantine arrangements for
ICRISAT seed. In this meeting it was decided
that a committee should reconsider the methodology
of treating future pearl millet seed consignments
for quarantine clearance.
The appointed committee met and concluded
that treatment of seeds with CIBA fungicide
CGA-1-82/50W at a rate of 3 g/kg seed in 1000
ml water for 6 hours, in addition to the procedures
recommended in the December 1976
meeting, should afford adequate safeguard
against the risk of the pathogen being introduced
through pearl millet seed imported by
ICRISAT.
Groundnut: The earlier procedure of growing
imported seed material in the Post-Entry
Quarantine Isolation Area and releasing the seed
of the healthy plants was discontinued. After
prolonged discussion with the Directorate of
Plant Protection, Quarantine, and Storage,
Government of India at New Delhi, the procedure
for releasing groundnut seeds was finalized.
Ten seeds from each sample would be
grown in the nethouse at Central Plant Protection
Training Institute and kept under strict
observations for a period of 6 to 8 weeks.
Seedlings showing the slightest symptoms of an
exotic disease were discarded; healthy seedlings
were released for planting in the Post-Entry
Quarantine Isolation Area at the ICRISAT
Center. The material was again inspected until
harvest by Government of India and ICRISAT
scientists. This procedure, though slow, is working
out satisfactorily, and 406 cultivars have been
cleared during the year.
Postentry Quarantine
It was decided in ICAR Quarantine Committee
meetings in December 1976 and reconfirmed in
233