The scientists of Department of Plant Pathology at the Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry (UHF), have bagged an international collaborative project on developing cutting-edge technology for inducing biotic and abiotic stress tolerance in mustard seed for economic and environmental sustainability.
An official spokesperson of UHF said on Sunday that the project has been sanctioned under the prestigious Newton-Bhabha Fund UK-India Pulses and Oil seed Research Initiative (PORI).
The fund has been created by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) of the Government of United Kingdom and the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India.
The University will work with nine leading research organisations of the country besides seven renowned research institutes of United Kingdom in the project.
The three-year project has a total budget outlay of more than Rs 7.27 crore as Indian component, which will be distributed to the 10 Indian institutes, which are part of the project.
Each Indian institute will work on a different aspect of the project with a researcher working on the same area in the UK.
BBSRC which is a part of UK Research and Innovation, a body which works in partnership with universities, research organisations and government for promoting research and innovation is also making upto £3.5 million available to support the UK components of this research.
UHF Department of Plant Pathology Professor and Head Dr H R Gautam informed that Professor of Plant Pathology Dr Anil Handa, will be the Principal Investigator and coordinator of this project while Dr Rajnish Sharma working in the Department of Biotechnology will act as the Co-Investigator.
He added that this achievement is one of the cherished moments in 55 years history of the department.
UHF Director of Research Dr J N Sharma said that the University is making continuous efforts to get projects from various funding agencies and engage in collaborative work to strengthen the research capabilities and infrastructure.