Indian Sugar & Bio-Energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA) and ICAR-Indian Sugarcane Research Institute (ICAR-ISRI) sign MoU to establish advanced centre for quality sugarcane seed production in Uttar Pradesh

Key facts

• The Indian Sugar & Bio-Energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA) and ICAR-Indian Sugarcane Research Institute (ICAR-ISRI) signed an MoU to establish an Advanced Centre for Quality Sugarcane Seed Production in Uttar Pradesh.
• The centre will be located at ICAR-ISRI, Lucknow, and will focus on multiplication and distribution of disease-free, genetically pure, and high-yielding sugarcane seed.
• The initiative aims to improve cane productivity, sugar recovery, and farm income for farmers in Uttar Pradesh and the subtropical region.
• The centre will include facilities for seed production, nursery raising, disease indexing, hardening, multiplication, storage, and distribution of planting material.
• The programme will also support seed quality monitoring, field performance assessment, training of cane development personnel, and large-scale adoption through participating sugar mills.
• The initiative will introduce systematic tagging and digital traceability of seed lots to preserve identity and quality throughout the supply chain.