Welcome! Dr Sobhana Sivasankar, a US citizen, has been appointed as Director, CGIAR Research Program on DrylandCereals. She is likely to join on 16 July. Dr Sobhana is currently Lead, Corn Drought Tolerance Gene Evaluation, Pioneer Hi-Bred International (a DuPont Business), Johnston, Iowa. She has a PhD in Plant Physiology, from the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada and a Master’s degree in Business Management from the University of Iowa. She was a Post-Doctoral Fellow in 1996-1999 with the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, University of Guelph, and has been with Pioneer Hi-Bred International since 1999.
Dr Thammineni Chakradhar, an Indian national, joined on 1 April, as Special Project Scientist, Research Program - Dryland Cereals, ICRISAT, Patancheru to work on the collaborative research project between ICRISAT and SM Sehgal Foundation. Dr Chakradhar has a PhD in Botany from Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Andhra Pradesh, India. Prior to this assignment, he worked as Lead Scientist at Centromere Biosolutions Private Limited (Vibha group of seeds), India.
Visitors’ log 17 April: Forty farmers from East Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh; Mr Sanjay Bhoosreddy, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India and his team. 18 April: Dr Eero Nissila, Head, Plant Breeding, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines.
Dr Achim Dobermann, DDG (R), IRRI (2nd from left) at the SatVenture.
Science with a human face ICRISAT-Patancheru (Headquarters) Patancheru 502 324 Andhra Pradesh, India Tel +91 40 30713071
ICRISAT-Liaison Office CG Centers Block NASC Complex Dev Prakash Shastri Marg New Delhi 110 012, India
ICRISAT-Nairobi (Regional hub ESA) PO Box 39063, Nairobi, Kenya
ICRISAT-Bamako (Regional hub WCA) BP 320 Bamako, Mali
ICRISAT-Niamey BP 12404 Niamey, Niger (Via Paris)
ICRISAT-Bulawayo Matopos Research Station PO Box 776 Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
ICRISAT-Lilongwe Chitedze Agricultural Research Station PO Box 1096 Lilongwe, Malawi
ICRISAT- Kano PMB 3491, Sabo Bakin Zuwo Road Tarauni, Kano, Nigeria
ICRISAT-Maputo c/o IIAM, Av. das FPLM No 2698 Caixa Postal 1906 Maputo, Mozambique
ICRISAT is a member of the CGIAR Consortium
www.icrisat.org
19 April: Dr Achim Dobermann, Deputy Director General - Research, IRRI (See picture); and 10 delegates from the Project for Agriculture Commercialization and Trade, Government of Nepal.