17/08/2026
First meeting of the XIth Research Advisory Committee commences at ICAR-IISR
The first meeting of the XIth Research Advisory Committee (RAC) of ICAR–Indian Institute of Spices Research (ICAR-IISR), Kozhikode, commenced at the institute under the chairmanship of Dr. BMC Reddy, Former Vice Chancellor, Dr YSR Horticulture University, Andhra Pradesh. The meeting is being held to review the institute’s ongoing research programmes, research achievements, technology development and technology transfer activities, and to provide recommendations for further strengthening its research programmes.
As part of the meeting, ICAR-IISR signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bio Mountain Farmers Producer Company Limited, Kannur, to strengthen collaboration for the dissemination and adoption of improved spice production technologies among farming communities. The MoU was signed by Dr. R. Dinesh, Director, ICAR-IISR, and Rev. Sibi Palakuzhy, Chairman, Bio Mountain Farmers Producer Company Limited.
The meeting also witnessed the transfer of licenses for IISR technologies. A license agreement was handed over to Botagnix Private Limited, Jalna, Maharashtra, for the commercial production and marketing of the novel granular formulation of Lecanicillium psalliotae for cardamom. Two new licenses for the black pepper variety IISR Chandra were also issued during the programme.
Adding to the institute’s digital innovation initiatives, PiperDx, an AI-powered digital platform for early detection of black pepper viral diseases and nutrient deficiencies, was launched. Developed by ICAR-IISR in collaboration with NIT Calicut under a Department of Biotechnology, Government of India-sponsored project, PiperDx integrates image-based diagnosis of leaf symptoms with deep-learning-based genome classification of major black pepper viruses, including PYMoV, CMV and BPVF, enabling faster and smarter disease diagnosis.
The NGS Toolkit developed by the Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics (BIG) Facility at ICAR-IISR was also unveiled in the event. The toolkit is designed to facilitate the analysis of high-throughput sequencing data. The Research Highlights publication was also released during the programme.
The RAC chaired by Dr. BMC Reddy includes Dr. Sudhakar Pandey, ADG-FVS & MP (Hort. I), ICAR, New Delhi; Dr. Azad Singh Panwar, Former Director, ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming System Research, Modipuram; Dr. C K Narayana, Former Principal Scientist & Head, Division of PHT & AE, ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru; Dr. S N Sushil, Director, ICAR-Indian Sugarcane Research Institute, Lucknow; Dr. V. Venkatasubramanian, Principal Scientist (Agricultural Extension), ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore; Dr. Viswanathan Chinnusamy, Joint Director (Research), ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi; Shri C. P. Poovaiah and Shri K. T. Vibin as members.
Indian Council of Agricultural Research Ministry of Agriculture & Farmer’s Welfare, Government of India
