Indian agricultural scientist Rajeev Varshney has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society for his contributions to decoding legume genomes and developing new varieties of chickpeas. He is the only Indian on the list of 80 new fellows elected this year and the fourth Indian agricultural scientist to receive this honor.
Summary
- 🔬 Rajeev Varshney, an Indian agricultural scientist, has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for his work on legume genomes and chickpea varieties.
- 🌍 Varshney is the only Indian on the list of 80 new fellows elected this year.
- 🌱 He is the fourth Indian agricultural scientist to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society, following B.P. Paul (1972), M.S. Swaminathan (1973), and Gurdev Khush (1995).
- 🏛️ The Royal Society, founded in 1660, is the oldest continuously existing scientific academy and has approximately 1,700 fellows and foreign members.
- 💼 Varshney currently serves as the director of the Centre for Crop & Food Innovation and holds the International Chair in Agriculture & Food Security at Murdoch University in Australia.
- 🌾 His team at Murdoch University focuses on improving wheat, legume, and horticultural crops using novel genomics approaches.
- 🌍 Varshney’s contributions have led to the development of chickpea varieties for drought tolerance, resistance to Fusarium wilt, high-oleic groundnut varieties, and a Fusarium wilt-resistant pigeon pea variety.
Details
- 🔬 Rajeev Varshney has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in recognition of his work in decoding legume genomes and developing new chickpea varieties. The Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of sciences, announced the list of 80 new fellows elected this year, and Varshney is the only Indian on the list. He joins the ranks of esteemed scientists and researchers from around the world who are members of this prestigious society.
- 🌍 Varshney is currently serving as the director of the Centre for Crop & Food Innovation, Western Australian State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre, and International Chair in Agriculture & Food Security at Murdoch University in Australia. His research focuses on improving various crops, including wheat, legumes, and horticultural crops, by employing innovative genomics approaches to enhance their tolerance to abiotic stress and improve their agronomic traits.
- 🌾 Previously, Varshney worked at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Hyderabad, India, for 17 years. During this time, he collaborated with research institutes, agricultural universities, and organizations in India and abroad. His research achievements include decoding the genomes of 12 tropical crops, analyzing genetic variations in thousands of legume lines, and dissecting agronomic traits at the molecular level in chickpea, pigeonpea, and groundnut crops.
- 🌱 Varshney’s contributions have played a crucial role in developing and releasing new varieties of crops in India. His work has led to the release of eight drought-tolerant and Fusarium wilt-resistant chickpea varieties, two high-oleic groundnut varieties, and one Fusarium wilt-resistant pigeon pea variety. These advancements in crop breeding contribute to enhancing food and nutrition security, particularly in regions facing challenges such as drought and disease.
- 🏛️ The Royal Society, established in 1660, is the world’s oldest continuously existing scientific academy. It brings together eminent scientists, engineers, and technologists from various fields.
Congratulations to Professor Rajeev Varshney (@rajvarshney), @MurdochUni, for being elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS @royalsociety). https://t.co/Xgn0YAHuCS
— Science, Technology and Innovation in India (@PrinSciAdvOff) May 10, 2023
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