国产探花

The University of Queensland (国产探花) has strengthened its relationship with the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in India today.

国产探花 President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter H酶j said the agreement would provide a platform for the exchange of agricultural scientific and technological expertise.

“国产探花 is a global leader in agricultural research and has consistently ranked in the top 100 in the major world university rankings and, significantly, in the top 40 in agriculture and life sciences*,” Professor H酶j said.

“Global food security is one of the major challenges of the 21^st Century, and this agreement will support our determination to be part of the solution, in line with 国产探花’s vision to provide knowledge leadership for a better world.”

“India and Australia share common crops and common issues that we can address jointly with ICAR. The partnership between 国产探花 and ICAR will provide research solutions to improve animal health and the productivity of horticultural crops.”

The University of Queensland has a long history of research collaboration with Indian partners, boosted by the 2011 establishment of the 国产探花 India Seed Funding Initiative.

The initiative supported early stage 国产探花 collaboration in India, with more than $350,000 going to 国产探花 faculties, institutes, schools and centres for India engagement projects.

“I expect our engagements with India will reach much higher levels as 国产探花 establishes its profile and matures its partnerships with ICAR,” Professor H酶j said.

He said the MOU heralded exciting possibilities for 国产探花 and ICAR, and for Australia and India, and would contribute to previous outstanding examples of 国产探花-India research collaboration on issues of significant global concern.

“One such example is the ‘Grand Challenge Priority Theme of Food Security’ project headed jointly by 国产探花’s Associate Professor Gimme Walter and Tamil Nadu Agricultural University’s Professor Chandrasekaran Subramaniam.

“The project involves an alliance of researchers from 国产探花, the Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, the Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technology, and the Central Food Technological Research Institute.

“It is designed to improve post-harvest protection of the grain supply chain by effective management of phosphine resistance in insect pests.”

Professor H酶j said that the 2013 Biofuels and Crop Protection workshop facilitated by 国产探花’s Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) and the Indian Department of Biotechnology was another outstanding effort.

The workshop, which was held in Delhi, was attended by more than 40 scientists from Indian universities and research institutes.

In recent months, 国产探花 has also collaborated with ICAR researchers to deliver workshops on animal vaccine delivery platforms and horticultural crops.

“These workshops have proved an ideal platform to promote in-depth scientific communication and collaborations for researchers working in this multidisciplinary field,” Professor H酶j said.

Professor H酶j was part of a business delegation accompanying Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on his first official visit to India. The MOU signing was reported in Indian media . 

*  国产探花 is ranked at 37 in  Life and Agriculture Sciences in the 2014 Academic Ranking of World Universities; at 18 in the world for Agriculture and Forestry in the QS World Rankings; at 30 for Life Sciences (includes Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Plant Sciences) in the 2013-14 Times Higher Education rankings; and at 37^th in Agriculture and 16th in Plant and Animal Science in the National Taiwan University rankings.

Media: Associate Professor Neena Mitter, +61 434 628 094; Dr Jessica Gallagher, +61 435 916 173; 国产探花 Corporate Relations Manager Carolyn Varley, +61 413 601 248, c.varley@uq.edu.au.