Prestigious award for ICARDA trainee 

An ICARDA PhD trainee from Bangladesh has been awarded a prestigious award in the United States for his work on lentil bio-fortification. Mr. A. K. M. Mahbub Ur-Rahman, a Senior Scientific Officer at the Pulses Research Centre of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Center (BARI), was awarded the 2017 International Plant Nutrition Institute Scholar Award, which recognizes research contributions to improving plant nutrition. 

Mr. Ur-Rahman, under the supervision of ICARDA’s Regional Program Director for South Asia and China, Dr. Ashutosh Sarker, has explored genotypic-environmental influences and agronomic and fertilization options to enhance iron, zinc and selenium levels in lentil. 

The research is seen as a significant contribution to providing a nutrient-rich source of food to poor people in developing countries, and in particular Bangladesh. It was been undertaken as part of an ICARDA-BARI partnership within the framework of the HarvestPlus program of the CGIAR, a global effort to enhance access to bio-fortified nutrition food. 

Mr. Ur-Rahman plans to continue farmer-oriented research to help rural communities increase their living standards and nutritional security, and communicates his thanks to Prof. Dr. Ahmed Khairul Hasan, Dr. Ashutosh Sarker, and Prof. Dr. M. Jahiruddin for their continuous inspiration and support.