A new initiative called the “Sustainable Crop Production Research for International Development” (SCPRID) has been launched to fund research to improve food security for millions of people in the developing country.
Managed by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), this £20 million fund has received contributions from BBSRC, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (through a grant to BBSRC), the UK Department for International Development and the Indian Department of Biotechnology.
The new initiative will fund teams from the UK, India and developing countries to work on research projects to improve the sustainability of vital food crops. The research will particularly investigate ways to improve the disease-resistance and stress-tolerance of staple crops in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Funding will be awarded to teams that can show that their research can improve food security and increase sustainable crop yields within the next 5-10 years.
The deadline for submission of outline proposals is 31 March 2011. For more information, visit this link.
