IRRI inks MoU with Uttar Pradesh agricultural universities

UTTAR PRADESH, India (21 April 2023) The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with agricultural state universities and colleges (SUCs) namely, the Acharya Narendra Dev University of Agricultural and Technological, Kumarganj, Ayodhya, Banda University of Agricultural and Technological, Chandrashekhar Azad University of Agricultural and Technological, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agricultural and Technological in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The focus areas of IRRI’s partnership with these SUCs will focus on enhancing collaboration in germplasm characterization, improvement, outscaling, crop and natural resource management, employing digital tools; accelerated exchange of scientists, students, and capacity building on value chain and market exploration and other socio-economic research and knowledge sharing activities. Further, this partnership aims to develop and transform the expertise and skills of young researchers to fit the current and future needs of research and development programs toward shaping rice-based agri-food systems in Uttar Pradesh.

The Governments of Uttar Pradesh and India signified strong support for IRRI’s plan to achieve high yield while reducing the environmental footprint of rice production toward ensuring food and nutritional security. IRRI also shared plans of increasing the productivity of rice-based food systems through more needs-based skills development programs and the development of rice-based value-added products.

Mr. Surya Pratap Shahi, Honorable Minister of Agriculture, Agricultural Education and Research for Uttar Pradesh appreciated IRRI’s efforts in the field of research and development for rice-based agri-food systems. He lauded some of the work being done by IRRI through the IRRI South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC) in Varanasi such as Direct Seeded Rice (DSR), the development and propagation of climate-resistant (flood and drought-resistant) varieties, drone technology for the development of traditional varieties and landraces of paddy like Kalanamak and Jeerabattis, along with the production of high-quality food-products, and how successes in these…