Two-way traffic is fertile ground
by Vincent Ciccarello
Relations
between UniSA and India will be further strengthened by three
bilateral research projects to receive Federal Government funding.
Dr Jack Desbiolles has been awarded more than $20,000 from the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund to lead a one-year pilot project looking at ways to promote leading-edge conservation farming practice in South India and Australia.
The project involves the formation a strategic alliance between UniSA’s Agricultural Machinery Research and Design Centre and India’s Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.
"Conservation farming keeps evolving into more sustainable formats," Dr Desbiolles said.
"Our project will look at recent advances in this area which not only increase productivity through improved soil fertility and water-use efficiency, but through environmental benefits such as reductions in soil loss and greenhouse gas emissions."
Two postdoctoral researchers have each been awarded $22,500 Endeavour India Research Fellowships.
Dr Sekhar Somenahalli from UniSA’s Transport Systems Centre will research public transport service planning at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.
"Public transport service planning is of great importance not
only for developing country like India, but Australia as well,"
Dr Somenahalli said.
And Dr Amiya Panda from the University of North Bengal will undertake research at UniSA’s Ian Wark Research Institute into new forms of artificial surface-active agents used in the treatment of respiratory diseases.