First in Southeast Asia to Win an International Scholarship and Research Grant

KU Ph.D. student wins international research grant

      Assoc. Prof. Wuthichai Kapilakanchana, President of Kasetsart University, revealed that Mr. Ekapon Phuwanatnarubal, a Ph.D. student in plant breeding at the Faculty of Agriculture at Kamphaeng Saen, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus, is the first person in Thailand and in Southeast Asia to win the international scholarship and research grant “Monsanto's Beachell-Borlaug International Scholars Program (MBBISP)” from Monsanto of the United States, worth US$140,000, for his research on “Breeding by designing a new type of flood-tolerant rice to survive long flash floods”. His advisor is Assoc. Prof. Dr. Apichart Vanavichit of the Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture at Kamphaeng Saen, and Director of the Rice Science Center, Kasetsart University, with Prof. Dr. Julia Bailey-Serres, Professor of Genetics at the University of California, Riverside, USA, as co-advisor. In 2012, there were 72 applicants worldwide, and the committee selected 14.    

     Mr. Ekapon Phuwanatnarubal is the first Thai to receive the MBBISP grant, to study and research the identification of rice lines that survive flash flooding without having the Sub1A flood-tolerance gene, and to find the haplotype pattern of flood-tolerance genes and elongation gene positions from flood-tolerant rice varieties, agronomic traits, elongation, strong internodes and

good ability to stand back up when the plant lodges, as well as selecting high-yielding varieties and combining QTLs with many useful traits, to develop environmentally friendly rice varieties.

     Assoc. Prof. Dr. Apichart Vanavichit, the advisor, said that this is an advanced research project that will bring wide benefits to the development of rice production worldwide. Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn has taken an interest in this project and has continuously followed its progress herself. The grant aims to extend support further to countries in Asia and Southeast Asia, so that plant breeders in developing countries gain experience in advanced international research.  The award ceremony will be held officially at the World Food Prize event on 15–20 October 2012 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA.It is therefore an important opportunity for Kasetsart University staff and students to be supported to enter the international research stage and take part in an important world event.

     “Monsanto's Beachell-Borlaug International Scholars Program (MBBISP)” is a program of Monsanto Company of the United States that supports doctoral scholarships and research in rice and wheat breeding, to develop a new generation of leading plant breeders and to build on their knowledge to help strengthen agricultural and food security for the world sustainably in the future. The program is held in honor of Dr. Henry Beachell and Dr. Norman Borlaug, leading plant breeders of the world, in cooperation with Texas AgriLife Research, an agency of the Texas A&M University System, which manages the program.

     The program gives full support to grant recipients, with a committee of plant breeding experts selecting suitable candidates for support of study and research costs. Since 2009, institutions around the world have received a total of 52 MBBISP grants, 21 for rice breeders and 31 for wheat breeders. Last year 12 were selected, 6 from India and 1 each from Ethiopia, Brazil, Egypt, Belgium, Switzerland, Ecuador and Tunisia.

Source: KU Public Relations