The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Australian Minister visits ICRISAT

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Thursday, Sep 11, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Australian Minister visits ICRISAT

Special Correspondent

Australia has committed one million dollars to the sorghum research project

HYDERABAD: Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Stephen Smith visited the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) at Patancheru here on Wednesday.

The Australian government has committed one million dollars to the sorghum research project at ICRISAT through the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) which commissions agriculture research programmes between Australia and developing countries.

An Australian High Commission release said the sorghum project was aimed at improving post-rainy sorghum varieties to meet the growing grain and fodder demand in India. It was intended to speed up the development of advanced and more robust sorghum crops through the use of an advanced technology – Marker Assisted Selection – which is a plant breeding process.

Mr. Smith was accompanied by Victoria Walker, Counsellor of the Political and Economic Section of the Australian High Commission at New Delhi. Christian Roth, Programme Officer, ACIAR, and Kuhu Chatterjee who monitored projects between ICRISAT and Australian organisations were also present.

ICRISAT Deputy Director General (Research) David Hoisington welcomed the visitors.

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