Research Projects

POC devices are crucial for detecting plant diseases and climate change, as they are rapid, simple, and inexpensive. However, they are not widely used for routine plant pathogen detection. Advances in field tests for plant pathogens have been limited since the development of agglutination test kits. In human medicine, simple disposable non-instrumental systems for clinical near-patient 'point-of-care' systems have become widely accepted. Non-radioactive labels, monoclonal antibodies, and advances in reagent support membranes and reagent deposition have allowed the development of rapid and simple immunoassays, which have proven sensitive and rapid. There is an emerging need for highly species-specific, sensitive, cost-effective, rapid, simple, stable, and portable Pearl millet pathogens detection kits (PMDK) for rapid and onsite detection of seed-borne diseases of pearl millet downy mildew, smut, and ergot. In India, there are no commercial kits available, so researchers plan to develop multiple pathogen detection kits to assist farmers in developing suitable disease management strategies. On-site diagnostic tools can help design pest distribution strategies, improve cultivar choice, study disease epidemiology, and develop new disease control strategies. Proposed IGY-based low-cost lateral flow-based PMDKs have great potential in the public and private agriculture sector, especially in primary plant health care centers in rural and urban settings. The method is reagent-free, making it usable at field levels, especially for poor farmers and quarantine officials who lack basic knowledge on disease and pathogen identification.