Tiruchirapalli, India – India’s Association for the Improvement in Production and Utilization of Banana (AIPUB) conferred the Kadali Purashkar Award to Dr. Agustin B. Molina, Bioversity International Commodities for Livelihoods’ senior scientist and regional coordinator for Asia-Pacific. The award was given on the occasion of the International Conference on Quality Production of Banana for Export and Domestic Markets held from October 24 – 26 2008 and was presented by AIPUB President, Dr. HP Singh, deputy-director general (Horticulture) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The event was organized by AIPUB and the National Research Centre on Banana (NRCB), with the Banana Asia Pacific Network (BAPNET) and Bioversity as co-sponsors.

The Kadali Purashkar Award is the highest award given by AIPUB to scientists who have accomplished outstanding milestones in the promotion and collaboration in research and development for the improvement of the banana.

The award was given in recognition of Dr. Molina’s leadership in setting the Musa research agenda in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in the area of Musa germplasm conservation and use. Presented to him at a gathering made up of scientists who were attending the BAPNET Steering Committee and Taxonomy Advisory Group (TAG) meetings, as well as private and public sector-stakeholders of India’s banana industry, it also cited Dr. Molina’s efforts of harmonizing banana research by promoting the value of a regional collaboration through the BAPNET.