UK-Pakistan
Lead Research Organisation:
National Institute of Agricultural Botany
Department Name: Centre for Research
Abstract
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Organisations
- National Institute of Agricultural Botany (Lead Research Organisation)
- Islamia College University (Collaboration)
- Quaid-i-Azam University (Collaboration)
- Ayub Agriculture Research Institute (Project Partner)
- CECOS University (Project Partner)
- National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (Project Partner)
- University of Agriculture Faisalabad (Project Partner)
| Description | The purpose of our UK-Pakistan Partnering Award is to strengthen collaborations in applied crop improvement and to enhance links between Pakistani and UK research groups working in complementary research areas across two key crops: wheat and oilseed rape (OSR). The initial work is to establish greater working collaborations between researchers at NIAB and crop researchers and plant breeders in Pakistan focusing on disease resistance, tolerance to drought and heat and improved nutritional content. To enable this we arranged a NIAB-Pakistan in Cambridge in summer 2019 to coincide with the academic exchange visit of Dr Varinderpal Singh who works in the area of crop nitrogen management in India. Due to visa issues we were only able to host Dr Varinderpal Singh and Dr Tariq Zaman from CECOS, Pakistan. However, the meetings were useful in terms of NIAB staff gaining a better understanding of priorities for future activities. NIAB were due to be represented at a UKRI UK-Pakistan network meeting in February 2019 but the meeting was cancelled due to an escalation between India and Pakistan leading to travel restrictions in the region. Two NIAB staff were due to travel to Pakistan in March 2020 but this visit has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak which will impact forward travel plans. |
| Exploitation Route | Further activities are in planning for the partnering award and should build and expand the collaborative network between researchers in the UK and Pakistan. |
| Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Environment |
| Description | Seed of wheat germplasm developed at NIAB and shared with collaborators in Pakistan has been grown out and performance of the lines has been examined by breeders. Some of the material may have been crossed to Pakistani lines for incorporation of favourable alleles into breeding pools accessed by breeders in Pakistan. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink |
| Description | Islamia College University Peshawar |
| Organisation | Islamia College University |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | During 2019 we have expanded our UK-Pakistan partnering activities to include Dr Muhammad Fahim who is the Director of the Centre for Omic Sciences at Islamia College University Peshawar, Pakistan. This included several meetings with Dr Fahim during his British Council-funded visit to Cambridge and hosting him at NIAB. We have also connected Dr Fahim to the UKRI-UPSIGN network which is convening meetings between UK and Pakistan researchers in the area of crop science. We are looking to develop joint training opportunities with Dr Fahim as the partnering award progresses. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr Fahim visited Cambridge and has now joined the UKRI-UPSIGN network. We have been discussing joint training activities. |
| Impact | No outputs yet, several meetings held and hosted initial visit to NIAB. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Sharing wheat germplasm resources from NIAB with partners in Pakistan |
| Organisation | Quaid-i-Azam University |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Partners in Pakistan have requested wheat germplasm developed and held in the UK for research and breeding purposes in Pakistan. Some of the material were pre-breeding lines developed at NIAB via work funded by BBSRC. |
| Collaborator Contribution | We anticipate Pakistan partners sharing results of their experiments on these lines with us. |
| Impact | No outputs yet. Disciplines are breeding, genetics, agronomy, physiology. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | CINTRIN exchange visit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Hosted 2 week exchange visit from Dr Varinderpal Singh (Punjab Agricultural University) to discuss further development of nitrogen decision support tools in cropping systems, leading to development of publications and future funding proposal. Also connected VPS with Tariq Zaman who is working towards similar aims in Pakistani crop production so ideas were shared between NIAB and visiting colleagues. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Participation in UK Pakistan World Food Day Seminar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Tina Barsby gave a guest speech entitled Resilient Crops to an audience mainly from Pakistan. This was part of a webinar organised by Comstech and UPSIGN ( UK Pakistan Science and Innovation Global Network. Keynote Speech by Professor Ratan Lai, World Food Prize Laureate 200, Ohio State University. Panel members: Iqrar Ahmed Khan, Pakistan Academy of Sciences; Hon Shandana Gulzar Khan Chair, sub-committee Agriculture, National Assembly of Pakistan; Dr Shahid Mansoor, NIBGE, Pakistan. Opportunity to raise the profile of the partnering. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | UK-Pakistan visit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Hosted visit to NIAB (24/6/19) from Dr Tariq Zaman (CECOS University) for 1 week to discuss collaboration in the area of decision support tools for crop nutrition and breeding, particularly ICT-based tools. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | UK-Pakistan workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | NIAB UK-Pakistan workshop to discuss collaborative opportunities for the development of ICT-based decision support tools building on NIAB skills and the interests of visiting scientist Tariq Zaman (CECOS University) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |