Dr. Patricia Imas, IPI Coordinator India, has assumed the additional responsibility and position of IPI Coordinator China, effective September 2007. Dr. Imas is especially familiar with the agricultural conditions in South Asia, and has over 10 years experience working with farmers, dealers, extension workers, researchers and state officials.
IPI activity in China started in the 80's, working alongside research institutes in the country. During the last decade, IPI has collaborated with a broad range of stakeholders, including research, extension, and soil and fertilizer institutes (SFI). IPI activity in China is focused on research projects in major crops and wide-scale dissemination and training programs.
By training, Dr. Imas is an Agronomic Engineer from the Faculty of Agronomy, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. She completed her MSc and PhD at the Department of Soil and Water Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. Her MSc thesis focused on the "Relationship between yield and transpiration under different nutrition", and her PhD thesis, supervised by Prof. U. Kafkafi, on "Chemical and biological processes in the rhizosphere affecting phosphorus mobility and uptake conditions".
Dr. Imas has comprehensive knowledge of the specific crops grown in Asia including rice, wheat, soybean, pulses, and medicinal plants. She has published papers in peer review journals and served as an editor for IPI proceedings. In recent years, Dr. Imas, as IPI Coordinator for India and the Fertilizer Association of India (FAI), jointly developed and implemented regular training programs for dealers and farmers, involving over 1,500 people from across India. She has also produced numerous leaflets in various Indian languages, and presented her research projects at international events.
Dr. Imas is also the representative of Dead Sea Works Ltd. at the Technical Secretariat of IPI, and is in charge of developing improved media and communication tools for the institute.
We, at IPI, believe that Dr. Imas's rich experience in launching research and training programs, as well as her skills in communication, will significantly benefit the various research and extension projects IPI implements in China.
