NSTDA welcomed the delegation of Forschungszentrum Jülich (Jülich) led by Prof. Dr. Harald Bolt, Member of the Board of Directors, on 18-19 July 2019 for a framework agreement signing and the 1st annual workshop. The Framework agreement concerns an establishment of a joint laboratory on bioeconomy which will consist of collaborative projects in research, technology demonstration and capacity building, with the focus on the following themes:
- Precision, smart and digital agriculture
- Phenotyping platform and automation development
- Enabling technology development
- Value added products and a sustainable bioeconomy
The collaboration will be fostered and facilitated through an annual workshop and ambassadorship program.
NSTDA and Jülich have carried out CASSAVASTORe project -- studying storage root development for the breeding of new cassava varieties -- and SAPPHIRE project -- involving smartphone-based applications for acquisition of plant phenology and plant tissue-specific data. The new agreement will build upon the success of these two projects and explore addition projects by engaging more research teams from both sides.
In addition to the agreement signing function, the two-day program also consisted of the 1st annual workshop in which researchers from NSTDA and Jülich presented their research work and ideas for potential collaboration and a meeting of executives to frame the mechanism of collaboration.
