People

Feeding The World:
Geneticist Sukhwinder Singh

KATHRYN INGERSLEW

CIMMYT Research Station, Mexico

Sukhwinder Singh has had a wide array of experiences in his research career, yet he chose to commit his talents to CIMMYT, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, like many others at the Borlaug 100.

[The Center is commonly called by its Spanish acronym, CIMMYT -- for Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo].

Sukhwinder Singh is a wheat molecular geneticist and breeder. His emphasis on a wheat germplasm bank incorporates wild seed traits into commonly planted lines of wheat.

By introducing new genes into these varieties, Sukhwinder can create wheat that produces higher yield, is heat- and drought-stress tolerant, and uses nutrients efficiently.

These new lines of wheat are on track to be available for production by 2016.

Sukhwinder came to CIMMYT through an indirect route, beginning his education at Punjab Agriculture University in Punjab and graduating in 1990. Soon after, he became a Rockefeller Fellow at Kansas State University in Manhattan until 1994.

He then became a career fellow at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines until 1998. He went back to Kansas State University to work for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) until 2010, when he found his home at CIMMYT.

Sukhwinder appreciates CIMMYT’s clear ethics and application of research, he said. Seeing the immediate outcome of his research and how it improves the lives of farmers is what motivates his work.

Recently, Sukhwinder has worked with the Indian government to provide funds to farmers. With these funds, the best lines of wheat will be identified to maximize yield for Indian farmers.

Hopefully, with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, these lines of wheat will also be utilized in surrounding areas of India, he said.


[Courtesy: The University of Missouri - MU Earth. Edited for sikhchic.com]
March 27, 2014
 

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