2020 GCHERA World Agriculture Prize Award Ceremony kicks off in Nanjing Agricultural University

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 -- The 2020 GCHERA World Agriculture Prize (WAP) Award Ceremony and the 2020 World Agriculture Dialogue were held at Nanjing Agricultural University (NAU) today.

Dr Zhang Fusuo, Professor of China Agricultural University; and Dr Pamela Ronald, Professor of the University of California, Davis, won this year's World Agriculture Prize for their outstanding achievements in agriculture and life science education and scientific research, according to Nanjing Agricultural University in a statement.

Dr Zhang is the academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, plant nutrition expert in the College of Resources and Environmental Sciences of China Agricultural University, and President of the National Academy of Agriculture Green Development.

The academic discipline of Plant Nutrition was first established by a group of scholars led by Dr Zhang, combining the basic principles of plant nutrition with science-based fertilisation and practical sciences involving plant physiology, soil science, agronomy and nutrient management.

Meanwhile, Dr Ronald is a member of US National Academy of Sciences, a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center and the Founding Director of the Institute for Food and Agricultural Literacy at the University of California, Davis.

Her research has focused on increasing disease resistance and environmental stress tolerance in crops, and made important contributions in the fields of plant stress resistance and biological breeding.

WAP is an international award established by Global Confederation of Higher Education Associations for Agricultural and Life Sciences (GCHERA).

The prize aims to encourage individuals who have made outstanding contributions to education, research and innovation in agricultural and life sciences. The prize is US$100,000 per person, sponsored by the NAU Education Development Foundation and the Da Bei Nong Group. (US$1 = RM4.074)

-- BERNAMA