Leads Agri Genetics Sets Up Genomics CoE For Crops In Greater Noida

Leads Agri Genetics (a subsidiary of Leads Connect), on Sunday, said it has launched an Integrated Centre of Excellence (CoE) for cattle and plant genomics in Greater Noida. It is the first Indian private company to have imported Gir embryos—genetic material from Brazil to India—under the Breed Improvement Programme. The project will contribute to the development of animal genomics and agricultural biotechnology in India.

The Centre of Excellence seeks to establish India as a leader in agri-genomics research and development worldwide. A full-stack genomics service platform created specifically for the agri-genomics and agricultural biotechnology industries will be available at the recently established Leads Agri Genetics Lab.

At the inaugural event, BL Agro Group Chairman Ghanshyam Khandelwal spoke to the media and reaffirmed his strong support for government programmes that enhance farmers' well-being. He underlined how crucial genomics research is to raising agricultural yield and productivity. According to him, these developments will improve society as a whole in addition to helping the farming sector.

Navneet Ravikar, Group Chairman & Managing Director, Leads Connect Services, said, “Indian agriculture is at an inflexion point. Sustainability, climate challenges and pressure on higher yields are stressing the resources thin for our farmers. Our newly inaugurated Centre of Excellence for Cattle and Plant Genomics Laboratory is a landmark step towards self-reliance in agricultural biotechnology. With world-class genomic capabilities, we aim to empower India’s researchers, breeders, and farmers to innovate faster, build resilience, and create a sustainable future for agriculture.”

Industry veteran with over two decades of experience Dr Ashish Dubey is the Chief Business Officer of Integrated Centre of Excellence for Cattle and Plant Genomics Laboratory. Dr. Dubey, who also co-founded Redcliffe Labs, India’s fourth-largest diagnostics laboratory, is an expert in genomics projects spanning agriculture, human health, and diagnostics will strengthen the lab’s mission to advance genetic diversity research and genomic selection in cattle and crops.

“Genomics has transformed global science in the last decade, and agriculture stands to benefit immensely. At Leads Agri Genetics, our focus is on delivering end-to-end genomics solutions—from trait discovery to breeding acceleration—that directly impact productivity, sustainability, and food security,” said Dr Ashish Dubey, CBO, Leads Agri Genetics.

Genomics has evolved exponentially over the decade due to its affordability and immense usage across the species, including humans, plants and animals. After the Human Genome Project in 2003, there has been a paradigm shift in the field of research. The outcome from Genomics using Genomics selection in cattle and trait improvement in plants has been the biggest success stories, with new GM Crops to BT cotton, and ultimately helping humankind for a sustainable and safer future.

The lab empowers crop, livestock, and microbial researchers to accelerate trait discovery, breeding, and innovation with unmatched precision. The laboratory is equipped with instruments, including Illumina IScan for high-throughput SNP genotyping, NovaSeq for deep resequencing, PacBio and Oxford Nanopore for long-read assembly and structural variation analysis, and 10X Chromium for linked-read and single-cell assays.