GAU signs deal with JIRCAS to develop improved soybean varieties

Gazipur Agricultural University (GAU) and Japan’s International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) have signed a research collaboration agreement to develop sustainable, climate-resilient soybean production technologies and reduce crop losses in Bangladesh.
The agreement was signed at the GAU campus on Wednesday by Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr GKM Mustafizur Rahman and JIRCAS Programme Director Dr Keisuke Omori.
Building on more than a decade of research cooperation, the partnership will focus on developing effective disease management systems by combining rust-resistant soybean varieties with appropriate fungicide applications.
Researchers will investigate Asian Soybean Rust and Cercospora leaf blight, assess disease prevalence and fungicide resistance, and evaluate non-genetically modified (non-GM), rust-resistant varieties developed by JIRCAS and its South American partners for their suitability and commercial potential in Bangladesh.
If the imported varieties prove unsuitable, the researchers will develop locally adapted resistant varieties through breeding programmes. The study will also assess the economic and environmental benefits of integrated disease management.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, GAU VC Prof Dr GKM Mustafizur Rahman said 
increasing domestic production and reducing import dependence are essential to meeting the country's growing demand for protein, he said, expressing hope that the partnership would deliver disease-resistant varieties and sustainable production technologies for farmers.
JIRCAS Senior Researchers Dr Yamanaka Naoki and Dr Sasaki Kazuhiro, GAU Director (Research) Prof Dr Md Moshiul Islam, project lead researcher Prof Dr Md Motaher Hossain, Director of IQAC Professor Dr Nasrin Akter Ivy and Associate Prof Dr Liakat Ali of the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding attended the ceremony.