Srinagar, Feb 11: Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir (SKUAST-K) innovator Sameena Lone has been selected for the Government of India’s BIRAC BIG grant worth Rs 50 lakh.
Biotechnology Ignition Grant (BIG) is a flagship programme of the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), which provides the right admixture of fuel and support to young startups and entrepreneurial individuals. Sameena Lone, an innovator cum scholar in the SKUAST-K’s Division of Vegetable Science, supervised by Dr Khursheed Hussain, Assistant Professor, Division of vegetable science, SKUAST-K and mentored by Naveed Hamid, BDA, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Cell of the university, submitted her innovative proposal on 'Organic & Disease-Free Seed Potato Production through Tissue Culture in Kashmir'. .More than 500 innovators across the country had applied under the said scheme and only 26 got selected for the final pitching round before the panel committee from which only nine innovators were selected under the given category across the nation. SKUAST-K innovator is the only one from Jammu and Kashmir to receive the BIRAC BIG grant in the present round. Vice Chancellor SKUAST Kashmir Prof Nazir Ahmad Ganai congratulated the innovator and her team of mentors for securing the BIRAC Grant.
