CPSBB researcher Dr. Aakansha Kanojia took part in the Annual Meeting of all consortium partners within the BOOSTER project.

The meeting was held in Ghent, Belgium and hosted by the Center for Plant Systems Biology VIB-PSB.

Dr. Klanojia presented the latest research conducted by CPSBB on enhancing maize drought tolerance through biostimulant-based priming strategies.
The presentation of Dr. Kanojia highlighted the mode of action of a leaf-priming seaweed biostimulant and its role in improving drought resilience in maize. She also shared results demonstrating the synergistic benefits of combined seed and leaf priming, including improved physiological performance and stress tolerance under drought conditions.
The BOOSTER project  is focused on agriculture with a specific applied goal — increasing the yields of maize and teff by developing innovative strategies to enhance their drought tolerance. This involves two complementary approaches: identifying key regulators of drought tolerance through advanced molecular analyses and developing new, high-quality biostimulants. By utilizing natural genetic variation to create drought-resistant genotypes and by developing biostimulants derived from living organisms, BOOSTER will leverage existing natural resources to provide farmers with new, drought-tolerant cereal crop varieties.
The consortium within the project consists of scientific institutions, universities and industrial companies from Bulgaria, France, Ireland, Belgium, Italy, Ethiopia, Germany, USA, Spain, and South Africa.

More about the project:
www.boosterproject.eu