ICCBS, Chinese institute to work on rice research

Karachi
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for rice research was signed between the KU’s International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) and the China National Rice Research Institute (CNRRI) of Hangzhou on Thursday.
The objective of the agreement is to conduct research for developing new high-yielding and disease resistant varieties of rice and any such other areas the two parties may agree upon. The MoU was signed at a ceremony held at Dr Panjwani Centre for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research (PCMD), said a spokesperson of the ICCBS.
Chinese officials, including CNRRI Deputy Director General Dr Peisong Hu, Dr Liyong Cao, Dr Xinhua Wei, Aijuan Ge, ICCBS Patron-in-Chief Professor Dr Atta-ur-Rahman, ICCBS Director Professor Dr Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary and other faculty members attended the ceremony.
Prof Dr Rahman said the agreement would further promote collaborative research between the two countries and termed the MoU a positive sign for research on rice.
Dr Choudhary said the centre was engaged in research and development of various fields of chemical, biological, biomedical and genomic research. “The Chinese institution will train scientists from ICCBS in the field of rice breeding and production of high quality hybrid rice seed,” he added.
As per the MoU, both institutions will work together in the field of agricultural biotechnology and both have agreed to enhance relations and develop academic exchange in the area of research.
Dr Hu said the CNRRI focused on basic and applied researches with priority on solving significant scientific and technical problems in rice production.