Collaborative Award 2021

TIGR2ESS team led by Professor Howard Griffiths, Professor of Plant Ecology
Department of Plant Sciences

The Vice-Chancellor's Awards
^{_{for Research Impact and Engagement}}

About the researcher

^{Howard Griffiths was the Professor of Plant Ecology at Cambridge University and is a Fellow of Clare College, and is Co-Chair of the Global Food Security Interdisciplinary Research Centre (GFS IRC). Griffiths is passionate about communicating the importance of plants, with over 150 primary research papers exploring their physiological ecology and associated molecular processes.}

^{TIGR2ESS (Transforming India's Green Revolution by Research and Empowerment for Sustainable food Supplies) is a collaborative research programme led by the University of Cambridge, initiated via the GFS IRC) comprising more than 20 organisations and over 30 early career researchers who are working to find sustainable ways forward for Indian agriculture through engagement with rural communities, female empowerment, academic exchanges, and policy translation.}

The Vice-Chancellor's Awards
_{for Research Impact and Engagement}

About the researcher

Howard Griffiths was the Professor of Plant Ecology at Cambridge University and is a Fellow of Clare College, and is Co-Chair of the Global Food Security Interdisciplinary Research Centre (GFS IRC). Griffiths is passionate about communicating the importance of plants, with over 150 primary research papers exploring their physiological ecology and associated molecular processes.

TIGR2ESS (Transforming India's Green Revolution by Research and Empowerment for Sustainable food Supplies) is a collaborative research programme led by the University of Cambridge, initiated via the GFS IRC) comprising more than 20 organisations and over 30 early career researchers who are working to find sustainable ways forward for Indian agriculture through engagement with rural communities, female empowerment, academic exchanges, and policy translation.

To be successful, we need to address the challenges in India today, from equality and sustainability in agriculture, to the problems associated with climate change.

Professor Howard Griffiths

What is the research?

UK-India Collaboration is Driving High-level Policy Engagement and Positive Outcomes for Rural Communities in India

Intensive agriculture in India since the 1960s’ Green Revolution has led to multiple inequalities and unsustainable pressure on natural resources. As the climate changes, there is an urgent need for a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable food and water system for the world’s fastest growing population.

TIGR²ESS research is focused on: identifying alternative irrigation practices to preserve groundwater; identifying crop lines with improved resilience and drought tolerance; enhancing nutrition in rural communities; supporting smallholder farmers; and empowering women.

Together, these findings have informed high-level policy engagement, community interventions, and training programmes to catalyse positive outcomes and entrepreneurial opportunities for rural communities.

It has shaped policy to support more than 2 million farmers to access markets in Punjab and saved over 80 billion litres of water through more efficient irrigation practices. Novel digital technologies were also developed to enhance information exchange and promote best practices for more sustainable cropping systems, farmer-producer organisations (FPOs). One other major output supported by partnerships across the programme included a free Massive Open Online Course, called ‘Communication and extension for sustainable development’ in collaboration Indira Gandhi National Open University.

The team undertook a wide range of engagement activities with senior policy makers in India, facilitating in-depth knowledge exchange through our Policy Fellowships programme. This programme has directly led to policy implementation to conserve water and enhance cropping diversity by applying outcomes from the TIGR²ESS programme through state and national government officials and other stakeholders across several Indian states.

TIGR²ESS strengthened research capacity in both India and the UK, with a focus on female researchers: over 30% of our programme members were female. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, through an intensive programme of online training opportunities, we opened up our capacity building activities beyond the boundaries of TIGR2ESS, training over 1000 early career researchers (ECRs) from around the world in key plant science and bioinformatics skills.

The project has been recognised by the Indian Department of Biotechnology (DBT) as an exemplar of engagement between academic institutions across India and the UK, successfully building research capacity and generating positive outcomes. They are building strong networks outside India. The TIGR²ESS General Assembly in March 2020 afforded the opportunity to further develop South-South interactions, through the attendance of African collaborators from sister project MillNETi. By establishing direct connections between the two projects, and with UKRI India, TIGR²ESS have expanded our global network and laid the foundations for future collaborations, projects and knowledge exchange.

A brochure of Case Studies, celebrating high impact outputs which have arisen across relevant fundamental science and societal research questions, is available to download collectively or individually from the TIGR²ESS website.