Central University of Punjab organised expert lecture 

Bathinda, March 14, 2022: Under the patronage of Vice Chancellor Prof. Raghavendra P. Tiwari, the Office of the Dean Incharge Academic, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda (CUPB) organized an expert lecture on the topic "Applications of genomics for drought tolerance and disease resistance in soybean". The keynote speaker for this programme was Dr. Milind B. Ratnaparkhe, Principal Scientist (Biotechnology), ICAR-Indian Institute of Soybean Research, Indore.

Prof. R.K. Wusirika, Dean Incharge Academics started the proceedings with welcome address. While addressing the participants, Dr. Milind B. Ratnaparkhe stated that the soybean crop has gained popularity at the international level in the last few decades due to its high protein content (40% protein and 20% oil content). He suggested that the adoption of soybean crops by Indian farmers will not only reduce our imports of edible oil but also increase the soil fertility of land due to nitrogen fixation capabilities of this crop as it belongs to Leguminosae family. He asserted that soybean has made positive impact on various industries including, food and feed industries, pharmaceuticals and Biodiesel production industries. Dr. Ratnaparkhe underlined that the success of genetically modified soybean in US, Brazil and other countries has encouraged the scientists of our country to work on various molecular approaches for soybean improvement. He shared that the research studies conducted by the ICAR-Indian Institute of Soybean Research indicates that molecular breeding, genetic engineering approach and genome editing approaches have the potential to increase soybean yield by improving its drought, water logging, and abiotic-biotic stress tolerance; refining its seed composition; and enhancing disease resistance capabilities. He highlighted that artificial intelligence and computational science techniques could also play a vital role in the effective implementation of the above approaches. He encouraged the scientists and research scholars of CUPB to initiate research programs on emerging fields such as large scale comparative genomics studies using whole genome sequences, functional genomics studies and specially genome editing technologies so that improved crop varieties can be developed for the welfare of society.

Towards the end, Dr. Ravindresh Chhabra, expressed his gratitude towards the distinguished speaker for enlightening the participants about emerging research trends. The programme was attended by students, research scholars, and faculty from different departments of the university.