The world's food system depends on phosphorus – a nutrient every crop needs to grow and one for which there is no substitute.
But most fertiliser phosphorus is produced from finite deposits of phosphate rock concentrated in a relatively small number of countries. It can be costly for farmers, much of it is not efficiently used by crops, and phosphorus lost from farms can enter waterways and contribute to damaging algal blooms.
Helping agriculture produce more food with less of this critical resource is the challenge that will bring Indian plant scientist Bhagat Singh to Southern Cross University.
Mr Singh has been awarded a prestigious Maitri Scholarship to undertake a PhD investigating how rice plants could produce healthy yields while storing less phosphorus in their grains, allowing more to be recycled back into the soil.
The $269,350 project, Genetic characterisation of low-phosphorus rice grains using induced gene mutations, will build on Southern Cross University's established research in rice genetics and plant science.
Mr Singh is one of 15 Indian scholars selected to undertake research at Australian universities through the Maitri Scholarships Program. He is expected to join Southern Cross University's Lismore campus later this year.
For Mr Singh, the project brings together his personal connection to farming and many years of advanced plant-science research.
Mr Singh is currently a Senior Research Fellow at India's National Institute of Plant Genome Research in New Delhi, where he is researching the use of precise genome-editing techniques to improve rice plant growth under low-phosphorus conditions.
His experience includes editing genes in rice using CRISPR-Cas9 technology, investigating how rice plants absorb and use phosphate, and studying the biological processes that allow plant roots to respond to phosphorus deficiency.
That expertise was particularly important because, unlike many PhD scholarship programs, the Maitri Scholarship requires the proposed supervisor and candidate to develop the research project and submit their application together.
Project lead Dr Kwanho Jeong said Mr Singh's background made him an excellent fit for the project, which will investigate how rice can produce strong yields while using and storing phosphorus more efficiently.
"He also has a genuine understanding of the challenges facing farming communities. That combination of scientific expertise and personal connection to agriculture made him an outstanding candidate for the project," said Dr Jeong.
The scholarship is the first awarded to Southern Cross University through the Maitri Scholarships Program and marks a significant milestone in the University's growing research relationship with India.
"I am excited to come to Southern Cross University because this project closely aligns with the research I am already undertaking," Mr Singh said.
"It will allow me to learn from researchers, work in a different agricultural environment and contribute to knowledge that could benefit farmers in both India and Australia.
"I also love nature and wildlife, so I am looking forward to discovering the environment around Lismore, meeting new people and beginning the next stage of my research in Australia."
