Almost forgotten in this tumult is the work of several public institutions, primarily the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in Coimbatore and the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, in genetically modifying the open pollinated varieties of brinjal whereas Mahyco is focused on doing it with hybrids. Of course, both institutions have been working with Mahyco on the project in what is described as a public private partnership, spearheaded by Cornell University of the US as the ABSPII project. Funding for the project comes from the Ford Foundation and USAID.