LONDON: UK minister visits ICRISAT, discusses climate action

LONDON: Premier Hyderabad-based agri
research centre, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid
Tropics (ICRISAT), on Thursday said Lord Tariq Ahmad, minister of state for
South Asia and the Commonwealth in the UK government, led a high-level
delegation to discuss climate-resilient agriculture and biodiversity during his
visit to the institute.

Lord Ahmad toured ICRISAT’s field
experiments, water and biodiversity management facilities, genomics facilities
and the genebank. The minister was briefed about the changes in the behaviour
of crops, pests and diseases that can occur with rising carbon dioxide levels.

“This year, as we host COP26 in Glasgow, sustainable agricultural practices and
technologies are an important issue for the UK. My visit to ICRISAT is to
explore future collaboration in this regard and an opportunity to see how
ICRISAT is catalysing productivity and prosperity in the semi-arid tropics in
the face of climate change,” he said.

“Climate change threatens to
compromise food systems and disrupt lives. We are committed to making
smallholder farming in the drylands resilient to climate shocks,” said
Jacqueline Hughes, director general, ICRISAT.