Director General Dr. William D. Dar of ICRISAT formally inaugurated the office of the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)-HarvestPlus at the Patancheru campus near Hyderabad, India on 12 May.

Dr. Dar recalled how he advocated the inclusion of pearl millet in the mandate of HarvestPlus. “When HarvestPlus started, pearl millet was not in the picture. I demanded a place for this poor man’s cereal among the major cereals such as wheat and rice,” he said.

Thanking representatives from HarvestPlus and Lawrence Kent of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr. Dar stressed the need for forging partnerships with scientific organizations at different levels. He said, “No one can do it alone. ICRISAT is the living proof for showcasing partnerships for agricultural development.”

Harrie Hendrickx, Head of Product Delivery for HarvestPlus, pointed out that the new office in Patancheru would concentrate on providing support to seed companies and the industry to pick up the seeds that are rich in micronutrients. “We focus mainly on staple crops like cassava, maize, beans, rice, wheat, and pearl millet, and pearl millet is the reason why we are now in ICRISAT,” he said.

Explaining the Foundation’s experience in the developing world, Lawrence Kent said that micronutrient malnutrition is a major concern in Asia and Africa. “Despite the rapid economic and agricultural development in India, there is still a problem of micronutrient deficiency in children, leading to stunted growth and anemia,” he added.

Hector Hernandez, Dr. K.N. Rai (Director of the HarvestPlus India Biofortification project), S.N. Nigam, K.K. Sharma, and Binu Cherian (Product Delivery Manager-Asia for HarvestPlus) were also present on the occasion.