Dr. Himanshu Pathak, Secretary DARE and DG, ICAR inaugurated the 9th Asian Cotton Research & Development Network (ACRDN) meeting & International Conference on “Innovation for a Resilient and Sustainable Cotton Production and Viable Value Chain” at ICAR-Central Institute for Research on Cotton Technology (CIRCOT), Mumbai on 6th December 2023. This programme was co-hosted by ICAR-CIRCOT on the occasion of its centennial year (2023-24) celebration, partnering with Indian Society for Cotton Improvement (ISCI) Mumbai, International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) Washington DC, USA, ICAR-Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) Nagpur and the Indian Fiber Society (IFS) Mumbai. Dr. S. N. Jha, Dy Director General (Agri Engg), ICAR, New Delhi, Dr. S. K. Shukla, Director, ICAR-CIRCOT, Mumbai and other dignitaries were also present during the inaugural programme. Innovative farmers, eminent researchers and faculties were awarded with ICAR-CIRCOT awards, ISCI awards and Honorary fellowship of ISCI. A total of 7 publications were released on this occasion.
Asia being the most vibrant hub of cotton production, processing, consumption and trade, this 9th ACRDN meeting & International Conference (Dec 06-08, 2023) at Mumbai gathered eminent researchers and stakeholders across the World to address the challenges arising from fluctuating market prices and pest-related issues to sustainability concerns.
A total of fourteen concurrent sessions were held spanning over a period of 3 days and all the delegates enthusiastically participated in the presentations and discussions. The area of discussion included all aspects of cotton cultivation, farm mechanization, precision cotton farming, AI, IoT & Robotics, post-harvest processing of cotton, cotton by-produce and by-product utilization, climate resilience, soil health & sustainable cotton production, Innovations in cotton trade, testing, traceability, technology transfer and socio-economics.
