National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Microorganisms (NBAIM) was established through a funded project sponsored by the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Ministry of Agriculture (Government of India) in the IX Plan in 2001 under the auspices of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The basic goal of the Bureau is to promote and coordinate systematic and scientific research in the area of agriculturally important microorganisms (AIMs) in order to improve the agricultural productivity.