JORHAT, Aug 19 - The Vice-Chancellor (In-charge) of Assam Agricultural University (AAU), Dr Ashok Kumar Bhattacharyya on Tuesday inaugurated an e-learning laboratory at the DBT-North East Centre for Agricultural Biotechnology (DBT-NECAB) that operates through the AAU at Borbheta here.
The e-learning lab has been set up as part of the AdaptNET-ERASMUS+ project, funded by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency of the European Commission.
Indian Coordinator of AdaptNET, Dr BK Sarmah, ICAR-National Professor (Norman Borlaug Chair) and Director DBT-NECAB stated that AdaptNET was a partnership between four higher education Institutions in India and four institutes in Europe aimed with a mission of strengthening education, research and innovation for climate-smart crops in India.
Dr Sarmah introduced the coordinator of AdaptNET Dr Andreas Voloudakis from the Agricultural University of Athens, (Greece) and other partners from the European and the Indian institutions, all of whom joined the programme virtually.
Dr J Deka, Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, informed that through the e-lab, approved courses on climate-smart strategies will be disseminated, with an initial target of 25 students.
The Vice Chancellor, in his address, lauded the collaboration and emphasised that the establishment of the e-lab was a well-timed initiative in the current scenario of social distancing.
The university official said that earlier this year, 29 scientists from India were sent on a training to three European and one Indian institute to strengthen their competencies in climate smart agriculture and serve as �master trainers� in the e-labs. The official further disclosed that additionally, 16 scholarships would be awarded to Indian students for refining their knowledge on climate-change related research in labs of selected partner organisation for three months.
