The ISCB Story (1974 to 2017)
ISCB Socio-economic field study - Cassava Network. © HAFL
The foundation of the Indo-Swiss Collaboration in Biotechnology was laid by two enthusiastic scientists with a keen interest in biotechnological research in 1974: the Swiss Professor Armin Fiechter, founder of the at that time new institute of biotechnology at the ETH Zurich and the Indian Professor TK Ghosh, Professor of the Biochemical Engineering Research Centre, at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi (IITD).
Their emphasis was on the building up of biotechnology infrastructure and human resources in microbial processes. Over many years the expertise on both sides was leveraged through intense scientific exchanges. Their vision was to go beyond setting up laboratories and to build partnerships with small industries and institutions which could produce the relevant products for the end users.
In September 1999, India and Switzerland signed a five-year bilateral agreement which defined the framework of the new ISCB programme which still is valid today. A key goal was the involvement of more stakeholders along the value chain and the fostering of capacity and partnership building towards product and technology development. The focus was laid on the development of environmental friendly technologies for increased crop productivity in rainfed areas, mainly of pulses and wheat, the development of sustainable solutions to protect these crops from pests and diseases, and the sustainable management of natural resources in marginal areas. Four new elements were introduced to improve the programme: (1) the adoption of the integrated value chain approach from planning to implementation; (2) multiple party agreement which determined all the rights and the duties of the project partners, (3) project funds for Swiss institutions to establish sustainable partnerships, and (4) the establishment of steering committee consisting of members from academia, private industry and/or NGOs to increase the governance of the programme.
The period from 2007-2012 (Phase III of the new ISCB) was one of the most promising and challenging phases of the ISCB programme in which four technologies coming out of the ISCB funded projects were licensed out into translational research (three technologies for resistance against insect pest in pulses and one biofertilizer to improve yield and quality of wheat and rice). The Technology Advancement Unit was formed in Delhi in 2010 to manage the gap of moving research outcomes along the value chain through technology transfer to product development. Private sector partners were involved to complement the efforts of public sector partners in technology validation and technology dissemination through product commercialization.
In comparison to previous phases the following main changes were made in the ISCB Phase IV (Jan 2013 – Oct 2017): (1) Slight refocusing of overall goal with food security in the centre and the scope on pre-and postharvest improvement of crops and inputs for crop production, (2) Integration of socio-economics and policy (research) aspects, (3) Expansion of transsectoral activities in e.g. capacity building and knowledge sharing. The focus crops pigeon pea, finger millet and cassava were selected based on a multi-stakeholder planning workshop to identify the areas of importance to small and marginal farmers and expert consultations among other.