ICRISAT and Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences ink agreement on peanut research

A high-level delegation from Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences (SAAS), China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ICRISAT to foster collaborative research on peanut.

China and India are the two largest producers of peanut in the world. Shandong is the largest peanut growing province in China. ICRISAT has been collaborating with the Shandong Peanut Research Institute (SPRI) since several years. The visit by Dr Rajeev K Varshney, Research Program Director – Grain Legumes to SPRI in June 2013 catalyzed this visit by the delegation. 

During the signing of the MoU. Photo: B Anjaiah, ICRISAT

Dr Lin Zhao, President, SAAS and Dr CLL Gowda, ICRISAT’s Deputy Director General – Research, on behalf of Director General Dr William D. Dar, signed the MoU which is aimed at providing more strength to collaborative research on a large scale for uplifting the socio-economic status of poor farmers, particularly in Asia.

Aside from Dr Zhao, the SAAS team composed of Mr Run Tian Zhao (Vice-Governor of Shandong Province), Dr Guoliang Zhang (Deputy Director General, Shandong Provincial Foreign Affairs Office), Mr Jikang Feng (Vice Director, Shandong Provincial Department of Agriculture), Mr Chengjun Hou (Party Secretary and Council Director), Dr Ligui Zhu (Director General, SPRI), Mr Ding Zhen (Asian Division, The Foreign Affairs Office, Shandong Provincial People’s Government), Dr Qingxuan Gong and Dr Mei Yuan of SPRI, visited ICRISAT on 17 December.

Source: ICRISAT Happenings