May 7, Chittagong: Research collaboration meeting for Palmyraculture between Bangladesh Sugarcrop Research Institute (BSRI), Ishurdi, Pabna and Asian University for Women (AUW), Chittagong was held at AUW Campus, Chittagong. Both the teams shared their research on Asian Palm so far and shared their future plans.

BSRI is a pioneer agricultural research institute in the country where technologies have been developed by performing research on multipurpose use and cultivation technologies of different sugar crops including palmyrah palm.

Scientists working in different fields of agricultural research at BSRI, Md. Saium Hossain (Scientific Officer), Raiyan Meem Saiem (Scientific Officer) and Md. Rashedul Islam, (Scientific Officer).were represented BSRI.

AUW Palmyraculture research team consists of  20+ student researchers and is led by Dr. Paulraj Mosae Selvakumar, Assistant professor of chemistry, Science and Math Program. This team is involved in various research & development projects on Asian palms/Sugar date palms around Asia.   From the AUW side,  Dr. Paulraj Mosae Selvakumar, Dr. Beena Khurana (Dean of Arts and Science), Dr. David Taylor (Dean of Humanities), and 12 Student Researchers of AUW (from Various Asian Countries). were participated in this meeting.

In this meeting, both teams shared their knowledge/expertise on Asian palm and discussed various issues and development plans related to Asian palm cultivation and utilization. Further,  They planned to collaborate in the following activities in the near future

• Participation in the palmyra palm tree plantation either on the AUW permanent campus or in a place suitable.
• AUW Palmyrah researchers’ Education Trip to BSRI
• Arranging an exclusive exhibition on palmyraculture jointly (BSRI & AUW) in Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC), Farmgate, Dhaka which will bring awareness among farmers, entrepreneurs, policymakers and everyone about the eco-friendly products of Asian palm.
• Arranging a detailed lecture on ‘Palmyra culture: the development plan’ presented by Dr. Paulraj Mosae Selvakumar in that exhibition in front of the policymakers of different tiers.
• Preparation and submission of concept note or Development Project Proposal (DPP) for funding large joint projects on Palmyra culture.

Finally, Dr. Mosae and BSRI Scientists together said that this collaboration is going to be the turning point and important milestone in Asian palm research and development in Bangladesh.