Bill Gates Visits IARI, Affirms Strong Interest in Research on Climate Resilient Agriculture

Bill Gates, co-chair and trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, expressed strong interest in IARI's Agri-research programmes, especially climate resilient agriculture and conservation agriculture.

"Today's visit was fantastic. Bill Gates spent nearly an hour and a half here... He was very impressed with India's national research programme. 'I should invest in a national programme,' he said, "informed A K Singh, Director of IARI.

Gates went to the IARI's climate change facility to see how carbon dioxide levels are simulated and crops are grown in fields.

He also went to a conservation agriculture programme in a maize-wheat cropping system. Gates is interested in conservation agriculture because one of his goals is to address the global problem of malnutrition, for which he is investing in developing sustainable agriculture tools, according to Singh.

Gates also saw IARI-developed drone technology for monitoring insects and diseases in the field, as well as a programme on drought-tolerant chickpea. When asked if Gates had promised money, IARI Director said, "It is our responsibility to move forward with proposals.

His foundation has provided us with a significant amount of funding. After five years, these projects must progress to the next phase. “We did insert it into his ears. He was extremely receptive." IARI has received funding for projects such as plant breeding digitization, genome selection, and human resource development in the field of new science such as genome editing, among others.