Press release from Business Wire India
Source: The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)
Saturday, June 02, 2012 12:18 PM IST (06:48 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest, Food & drink; Business: Agriculture, Business services, Media & entertainment
--------------------------------------------------
Need for Agriculture Innovations to Achieve Sustainable Agriculture Practices for Food and Nutritional Security
TERI organizes a brainstorming session commemorating the birth anniversary of Late Dr. B P Pal for his outstanding contributions in the field of agricultural and horticultural research
New Delhi, Delhi, India, Saturday, June 02, 2012 -- (Business Wire India) -- The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) organized a Brainstorming Session on Sustainable Agriculture Practices to Meet Challenges in Indian Agriculture today commemorating the birth anniversary of the Late Dr. B P Pal, revered for his outstanding contributions in the field of agricultural and horticultural research. Issues related to Sustainable Agricultural Practices and Integration of New Technologies for augmenting food production formed the subject matter of discussions.
Agriculture continues to remain the predominant sector of Indian economy in terms of workforce engaged in this profession for their livelihood. Even as Green Revolution made India self-sufficient in terms of food grains; however, we have already reached a plateau in agricultural production.
The objective of this conference was to sensitize researchers, academicians, regulators and policy makers towards challenges and solutions for sustainable agricultural practices. Challenge areas like drought scenario of Indian Agriculture, its challenges and probable long term solutions through marriage of improved technologies and scientific agricultural practices will be discussed in length between private and public sectors. Potential issues like precision farming, Genomics and agriculture, sustainable crop and soil protection, agri-extension, and availability of good seed and planting material will be discussed for finding existing gaps and probable linkages with a futuristic outlook. This kind of brainstorming will provide insight on the problem areas and their probable sustainable solution.
Padma Vibhushan Dr R.S. Paroda, Chairman, Trust for Advancement of Agricultural, an accomplished plant breeder, geneticist of international repute and an able research administrator, said, "To meet the emerging challenges in Indian Agriculture, which currently is at cross roads, we now need to have a paradigm shift from existing high input based agricultural practices to those of resource conserving technologies. Greater emphasis should, therefore, be on improving efficiency of inputs, integrated farming systems through agricultural diversification, mainstreaming gender, adaptation and mitigation to climate change and resilience in agriculture. As a matter of priority, to address poverty and to improve livelihood opportunities, we must ensure increased farm income by out-scaling resource conserving innovations which link farmers to markets".
TERI, is an institute actively engaged in research and application in biotechnology. One of the major research focus area of TERI is finding sustainable solution for agricultural practices. The present conference will focus on emerging issues in the area of sustainable agriculture with respect to technological advancements in the area of agriculture biotechnology.
Addressing the gathering and remembering Late Dr BP Pal, a thinker beyond his times, Dr RK Pachauri, Director General TERI said, "Agriculture in current scenario is facing a lot of challenges. It is important to have food security through a transformation of Indian agriculture. Dr.Pal's values, actions and thoughts will be a guiding light in addressing these challenges".
Sustainability issues now pose serious challenges in the next juncture of agricultural growth. While the developing countries attempt to tackle issues pertaining to sustainability of resource use, the developed economies attempt at redeeming agriculture from overuse of chemical inputs. There is a pressing need to disengage from the input intensive agriculture and shift to sustainable farming. Even as the need for radically changing the growth strategy through sustainable agriculture practice have been well recognized, the transition from input intensive to sustainable agriculture is faced with intrinsic problems and difficulties. Nevertheless, sustainable agriculture themes have become central issues to be addressed by policy makers and leaders. Especially in light of WTO obligations and the global trade liberalization regime, it is vitally important that Indian agriculture ensures its sustainability for the benefit of the present and future generations.
The conference was divided into two sessions. Session I : "New Technologies to Improve Indian Agricultural Scenario" focused on the issues pertaining to nutritional security for meeting the demands of ever growing population and the impact of modern agro-biotechnology on the environment . The scope of high-throughput technologies for gene discovery and functional genomics leading to development of transgenic crops was discussed. Emphasis was given to problems arising due to water scarcity. Finally, introduction to new technologies for model precision farming, good agricultural practices and crop protection for sustainable agriculture shall comprise essential aspects of this session.
Session II "Integrative Agricultural Management " focused on optimization of field-level management in terms of fertilizer input, irrigation, cropping practices in order to reach the ideal of reducing environmental foot print of farming. Views were shared on issues related to soil health and agriculture, good seed and planting material and agri-extension models.
The workshop also addressed the criticality of realizing in intelligent utilization of natural resources and managing trained human resources towards modern biotechnological practices. Contemporary research in agri-biotechnology provides unique solutions for combating challenges posed by environmental stresses that are likely to be exacerbated by climate change. Designer crops exhibiting traits that expand adaptability without compromising on over-all fitness of a plant species are being generated and tested for their efficacy. Agriculture sector is also set to leverage from environment friendly sustainable production of agricultural goods and nutritionally enhanced food crops.
Thanking the guests for participating, Dr Vibha Dhawan, Executive Director TERI in her closing remarks said," The world is demanding cost effective innovative solutions for meeting food and nutritional security for all mankind in a sustainable manner"
The conference was attended by several eminent scientists including Alok Adholeya, Director, TERI, Raju Barwale, CEO, Maharashtra hybrid seeds division, Sachid Madan, CEO, Technico pvt ltd,Arvind Kapoor, CEO, Vegetable seed division among others.
About Dr B P Pal
Dr B P Pal (1906-1989) a great scientist, institution builder is venerated for laying the foundations of India's Green Revolution in post independence times through focused translation of knowledge driven research into field performance by implementation of sound agriculture strategies. Dr B P Pal was the first Indian Scientist to become the Director of Indian Agriculture Research Institute, and later the first Director General of Indian Council of Agriculture Research. The vision and mission of Dr B P Pal was subsequently carried forward by other leading research scientists resulting in stupendous increase in aggregate supply of food grains, affording food security to the growing population. India later evolved into a food surplus nation from a food deficit one solely through the dedicated efforts of such nation builders as Dr B P Pal.
About The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)
From microbiology to global climate change, from smoke-filled rural kitchens to plush corporate boardrooms, from schoolchildren to heads of state-no sphere of human endeavour is unfamiliar to TERI. Headed by world-renowned economist and Nobel Prize winning climate scientist, Dr R K Pachauri, TERI is best described as an independent, not-for-profit research institute focused on energy, environment, and sustainable development and devoted to efficient and sustainable use of natural resources.
CONTACT DETAILS
Prashant Kr. Gunjan, Ketchum Sampark Pvt Ltd., +91 9650026623
Kavita Bhaskaran, Ketchum Sampark Pvt Ltd., +91 9810439897
Varun Chopra, Ketchum Sampark Pvt Ltd., +91 9811241427
Nishant, Ketchum Sampark Pvt Ltd., +91 9953253901
Zainab Naeem, TERI, +91 8800286575
KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, FOOD, AGRICULTURE, BUSINESS SERVICES, MEDIA
If you wish to change your Business Wire India selection please click on this link http://www.businesswireindia.com/media/news.asp and use your personal username and password to login.
Submit your press release at http://www.businesswireindia.com
No comments:
Post a Comment