Two scholars from Kashmir have been awarded travel grants and registration exemptions to present their work at the 3rd International Wheat Congress (IWC) in Australia from the Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology Kashmir (SKUAST-K). The International Wheat Congress (IWC) is a prestigious biennial event that began in July 2019 in Saskatoon, Canada. It serves as an important gathering for the global wheat community, providing a platform for leading experts, researchers, policymakers, and industry professionals to discuss advancements in the field of wheat breeding, genetics, genomics, and agronomy. The upcoming edition of the conference, scheduled for September 22-27, 2024, will be organised by the Centre for Crop & Food Innovation & WA State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre, Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia.
The 3rd IWC will be held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre (PCEC), in Perth, Western Australia. Being one of the largest wheat-producing states in Australia, Western Australia contributes significantly to the global wheat market
Dr. Safoora Shafi, a PhD Student of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology Kashmir received a travel grant from the Germany-based Wheat Initiative. Her presentation will focus on integrated omics-based approaches for cold tolerance in wheat, which will include biochemical profiling, metabolomics, lipidomics, gene expression studies, proteomics, and genome-wide association studies meanwhile the focus of her research is based on the Division of genetics and plant breeding.
Farkhandah Jan, a PhD scholar who had done her graduation in the Agricultural field from SKUAST Kashmir and later did her Master’s in Genetic and Plant Breeding from the same university in 2020, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology Kashmir, has been granted a registration fee exemption. She will present her research on integrated physio-biochemical characterization, genomics, metabolomics, and pre-breeding for understanding stripe rust resistance in wheat. As per LinkedIn bio, she has been working on Wheat-Fungus interaction and disease-resistance gene discovery
Prof. Nazir A., Vice Chancellor, SKUAST-K. Ganai congratulated the students for their achievements and appreciated the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Dr R.R. Mir for guiding the students to achieve these awards. Professor Rehana Habib Kanth, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at Vadura encouraged the students to use this opportunity to network with Professor Rajeev K. Varshney at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia. She emphasized understanding the research ecosystem at Murdoch University for capacity building among SKUAST-K students and exploring avenues for further collaboration.
Consequently, Dr Safoora Shafi and Farkhandah Jan were an inspiration for all students across Jammu and Kashmir as they are going to contribute their selfless efforts to research in the field of agricultural domain around the world. Both of the ladies play a significant role in the field of research and education despite their upbringing in a conflicted state. Through their efforts, they have set an influential example for the upcoming generation of Kashmir.