Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana Awarded Collaborative Research Between India And UK

Ludhiana, July 26, 2016: A joint research project entitled “Indo- UK Centre for the Improvement of Nitrogen use Efficiency in Wheat (INEW)” has been awarded to the team of Indian and United Kingdom (UK) scientists. The partners in the collaborative project from UK include scientists from Rothamsted Research, University of Nottingham, University of Bristol, John Innes Centre and National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB). Indian Institute of Wheat & Barley Research (IIWBR, Karnal), Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI, New Delhi), National Research Centre for Plant Biotechnology (NRCPB, New Delhi), Punjab Agricultural University (PAU, Ludhiana), Borlaug Centre for south Asia (BISA, Ludhiana) and National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR, New Delhi) will be the collaborating partners in research from India. The Virtual Centre will bring together all the key research providers in the UK and India with programmes on Nitrogen use efficiency in wheat, providing a unique range of material, skills and facilities combined with established delivery systems to stakeholders. The research platform will deliver improved nitrogen application strategies to farmers as part of agronomic packages.

First training under the project on “Quantitative Methods in Plant Breeding” is already scheduled at Punjab Agricultural University from August 29th – September 2nd 2016. This will be a5-day interactive workshop delivered by Drs Ian Mackay and Alison Bentley (NIAB, Cambridge, UK) and will include lectures and practical sessions.

Dr Achla Sharma, Assistant Plant Breeder, Dept. Plant Breeding & Genetics will spearhead the PAU research team as Principal Investigator, in coordination with UK scientists. The research will ensure optimum nitrogen use at the farmer’s level to reduce the input costs and minimize the negative footprints of excessive use of fertilizers on the environment.