Date:20/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/20/stories/2008092056391900.htm

Business

DuPont opens research centre in Hyderabad

Special Correspondent

To collaborate with ICRISAT to develop seed products
Initial focus will be on hybrid rice and maize

— PHOTO: G. KRISHNASWAMY

FOCUSSING ON GENETICS: Balvinder Singh Kalsi (right), President and CEO, DuPont India, with William Niebur, Vice-President for Crop Genetics R&D, DuPont, addressing the media in Hyderabad on Friday.

HYDERABAD: DuPont India announced here on Friday the opening of its first research facility at the DuPont Knowledge Centre (DKC) in Hyderabad. The biotech research centre begins its operations with more than 80 scientists working on a variety of global research programmes on plant and industrial biotechnology.

Announcing the launch of DKC at a press conference, Vice-President of DuPont Crop Genetics Research and Development, William Neibur, said it was the first integrated agriculture and industrial biotechnology research centre for DuPont outside the U.S. The other research facilities at the DKC would come up in phases over the next couple of months, and the complete facility would be inaugurated in November.

He said the company would collaborate with ICRISAT and other agricultural research organisations to develop seed products which would increase productivity and bring down the expenditure. The initial focus would be on hybrid rice and maize. Eventually, the centre would expand its areas of research.

The biotech research centre would focus on bringing new crop genetics to the market faster and on application of industrial biotechnology to produce bio-fuels and biomaterials for global markets. Plant biotech scientists at the DKC would work on developing biotech traits and technologies that would be used in multiple crops across the globe, said Mr. Neibur.

The trait discovery work conducted here would help create advanced seeds to meet the growing demand for enhanced food production, improved animal feed products and expanding energy needs.

The research teams would work together to develop products from renewable resources for food, feed, materials and energy. The number of scientists would be doubled before the year-end, over 600 scientists and engineers would work on the campus on different products, said CEO of DuPont India, Balvinder Kalsi.