Center for Excellence

Uttarakhand is endowed with an extraordinary wealth of forest and agro-biodiversity, yet many commercially and medicinally important species remain genetically under-characterized and conservation-neglected. The Centre of Excellence in Plant Genomics, Agroforestry Conservation & Sustainable Utilization of Biodiversity (CoE-PGACS) is proposed to address this critical knowledge and capacity gap through an integrated, multidisciplinary research programme.

The Centre will use molecular marker technologies — particularly Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs) and other PCR-based tools — to assess genetic diversity, mating systems, and contemporary gene flow in priority plant species, beginning with Schleichera oleosa (Kusum). The research framework is deliberately designed to encompass both forest and agricultural species, embedding the agriculture angle from inception so that the Centre's scope can organically expand to include medicinal crops, wild crop relatives, multipurpose agroforestry species, and underutilized cultivated plants of the state.

Parallel to the molecular genomics track, the Centre will investigate the insect biota associated with priority plant species, including pest complexes affecting both forest and agricultural crops, thereby generating integrated pest management insights of direct relevance to farming communities. Field ecology, ethnobotanical surveys, and community engagement components will ground the scientific outputs in real-world conservation and livelihood contexts.

Over three years, CoE-PGACS will deliver a functional molecular biology laboratory, validated genomic datasets, mating system and gene flow data, insect diversity catalogues, community resource maps, rural livelihood linkages, doctoral research outputs, and peer-reviewed publications — forming the scientific and policy foundation for long-term genetic resource management, agroforestry planning, and conservation action in Uttarakhand. The Centre's institutional home within the Department of Agriculture & Forestry at DBS Global University ensures the science remains grounded in agricultural realities and rural development contexts.