The National Phytotron Facility (NPF) was established in 1997. It is first of its kind facility in the country where live responses of the plant under controlled conditions are studied round the year. Genetics, physiology, and various biochemical parameters are studied by growing the crops under regulated growth conditions of the NPF. The facility is being maintained with prescribed bio-safety norms to test the transgenic crops. It has a self-contained area of 2700 m2, housing 22 growth chambers and 10 greenhouses. The facility is made available for plant scientists belonging to Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), State Agricultural University (SAUs), traditional universities and agro-industries to conduct experiments for understanding the complicated interaction of physiochemical environments and living systems, especially the plants and their pathogens. The Facility was initiated with financial support from the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), Rome, Dept. of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi. However, now the Facility is fully managed by the ICAR with support from the concerned ministry of the Govt. of India. It is expected that the finding of the experiments conducted in the NPF would support development of crop varieties with desired attributes and resilience to the changing climatic variables.

Scientists / Faculty name

Dr. Akshay Talukdar, In-Charge

Dr. Arun Kumar, Asstt. Chief Technical Officer

Mr. Nishant Kumar, Technical Assistant (T-3)

Mr. Shekhar Kumar, Senior Technician (T-2)

Mr. Vikas Kumar Pandit, Technician (T-1)

Brief description about different laboratories

The National Phytotron Facility is equipped with a sophisticated Molecular Biological Laboratory fitted with several sets of Thermocycler, Gel-Electrophoresis and Gel Documentation system, High resolution fluorescent camera, etc. Besides, it is having a Tissue Culture laboratory. All the laboratories are connected with necessary support systems such as autoclaving, water distillation system, media preparation, etc. for uninterrupted working 24x7.

Services
The NPF is a user facility. It provides working space and support to the users for conducting various critical experiments round the year. Once an experiment is accepted, it is fully supported by the NPF in terms of growing media, watering, day-to-day care, etc. As per need of the user, the crop growth parameters in the growth chamber and the glass houses are set and adjusted. The biology staff of the NPF takes care of the crops while engineering staff manages the growth parameters. The facility is supplied with uninterrupted power supply through dedicated power line supported by Generator set for emergency. To maintain proper hygienic condition within the NPF, entry to the Facility is restricted. Moreover, the uses are to go inside with apron passing through an air-shower so as to prevent contamination of various experiments. The biological waste of the facility is discarded following standard procedure. The residues of the genetically modified (GM) crops are burned in an insinuator and the ash is put in a dedicated pit.

Reservation form for using Nation Phytotron Facility