Launch of four-year India-UK Partnering Award
Dr Nigel Poole, former Chair of the ICRISAT Governing Board, making a presentation. Photo: RK Varshney, ICRISAT
A workshop on “Plant Sciences for Food Security and Nutrition” was held in UK to mark the formal commencement of a four-year India-UK Partnering Award by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBRC). The Partnering Award will facilitate exchange of researchers from University of Leeds to ICRISAT and vice versa.
The workshop was organized by Prof. Alison Baker from the University of Leeds, UK and Dr Rajeev Varshney, Research Program Director, Genetic Gains, ICRISAT, and is a follow-up of the University of Leeds delegation’s visit to ICRISAT in 2017. It was attended by more than 60 delegates including senior and junior members of the Centre for Plant Sciences (CPS), University of Leeds and ICRISAT, as well as Dr Nigel Poole, former Chair of the ICRISAT Governing Board.
The workshop provided participants a platform to meet a wider cross section of people and understand more about current research in these two institutions. The workshop had sessions on –
- The semi-arid tropics, challenges and solutions;
- Underpinning sciences for ICRISAT mandate crops;
- Seeds; and
- Plants, environment and systems.
The delegation from ICRISAT made several presentations on topical subjects of common interest with CPS, University of Leeds and research scholars shared their current research work through poster presentations. The workshop was held from 13-14 June.
