DBT signs MoU With UK?s Bio-Technology Council
New Delh : The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (BBSRC), U.K. and Deptt. for International Development (DFID).
The MoU was signed by M.K.Bhan, Secretary, Deptt. of Biotechnology in the presence of Minister of Science & Technology Kapil Sibal and the visiting U.K Science Minister David Willetts.
The letter of intent to launch a new initiative on ?Food security: Sustainable crop production research for international development? also agreed to establish a joint funding initiative with the aim of underpinning scientific knowledge that will increase food security and alleviate poverty.
The initiative is expected to forge productive global partnerships between scientists in the U.K, India and other developing countries to leverage high quality biological and biotechnological research for sustainable crop production in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
The total value of the initiative is estimated to be Pound 20 million over a period of five years. This fund will be used to support the development of scientific knowledge and the building of sustainable research capacity that will benefit emerging economies and the developing world.
The letter of intent will subsequently be followed up by a joint call for proposals on sustainable crop production which will be open for research proposals from international teams of scientists from India, U.K, South-Asia and Sub-Sahara Africa.
Kapil Sibal and David Willetts reiterated the commitment of their respective countries towards closer cooperation and a cohesive relationship in this area.
They hoped that the collaboration on global food security would harness the expertise available in U.K, India, sub-Saharan Africa and the south-east Asian region for providing global solutions to the formidable challenge of food security.
They also hoped that this would create a foundation for future collaborations in this area.