Agriculture Victoria's Horsham SmartFarm is currently hosting a third set of Indian researchers as part of a long-running higher education agri-science exchange program.
Drs Arun Kumar Attkan, Ganesh Upadhyay and Rajesh Kumar Arya from the Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (CCSHAU) in Hisar, north-western India, are currently here collaborating on a raft of bilaterally beneficial projects.
Agriculture Victoria, Plant Phenomics Research Leader, Dr Surya Kant is delighted to be supervising the latest recipients from Haryana University.
'This is a wonderful opportunity for Agriculture Victoria to collaborate with the largest agricultural university in India and foster ongoing research ties while exposing their researchers to our cutting- edge technology and infrastructure.
'Haryana has a similar climate to the Wimmera so the knowledge that our organisations are sharing on crop research and development is completely transposable.'
'It's great to welcome three of their talented academic scientists to work with our research teams on exciting projects in speed breeding, digital phenotyping, image sensing and crop production automation,' said Dr Kant.
The Haryana university researchers have a broad skill set to offer Agriculture Victoria during their stay:
- Dr Attkan is Assistant Professor for the Department of Renewable and Bio-Energy Engineering and specialises in precision agriculture
- Dr Upadhyay is Assistant Scientist for the Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering whose research focuses on dryland agriculture tillage efficiencies
- Dr Kumar Arya is Assistant Scientist for the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding and is an experienced wheat and faba bean breeder with a special interest in the medicinal herb Withania somnifera (Indian ginseng).
Dr Kant said the visiting scientists have been delighted to experience a different work culture and new technologies at the Horsham SmartFarm such as advanced high-throughput phenotyping facilities, automated glasshouses, latest grain quality testing laboratories and the Australian Grains Genebank.
They are also equally enjoying exploring the different social and friendly culture of Horsham.
