Amidst the participation of 400 scientists, students, farmers, entrepreneurs and seed as well as agro-chemical company’s representatives, the three-day National Conference on Maize tilted “A Crop for Food, Feed, Nutritional and Bioenergy Security with Environmental Sustainability” kicked off at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) today. The conference has been organised by the Maize Technologists Association of India (MTAI) in association with the ICAR-Indian Institute of Maize Research (IIMR) and PAU, Ludhiana.
In his inaugural address, the chief guest Dr Satbir Singh Gosal, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, lauded the role of private sector in enabling maize usher in as “Queen of Cereals.” The adoption of simple technology for quick redressal of maize-related problems was need of the hour, he stressed, while observing that drip irrigation for maize could benefit immensely in maintaining water table. Further, Dr Gosal underlined the need to adopt multi-stakeholder approach to meet the future demands in all the essential sectors like food, feed and fuel. Pointing out the lack of on-farm technology for farmers and strong value chain in maize for industries, the PAU VC called upon the researchers to divert their attention to these on-going issues, and come up with cost-effective and easy-to-adopt solutions.
The guest of honour Dr AK Joshi, Managing Director, Borlaug Institute of South Asia (BISA), made a call for adopting integrated and holistic approach to maintain sustainability in the sectors of food, feed and fuel.
Dr SK Vasal, World Food Laureate, while chairing the inaugural function, suggested managing available resources for continuous progress in research, and sharing experiences and ideas with scientific fraternity to improve the skills of the others. For climate change, incremental change in bioethanol blending will help in the long run, he observed.
Emphasizing on taking apt care of soil and plant health, the Chairman of Organizing Committee, Dr Sain Dass, President, MTAI, and Former Director, IIMR, appreciated the maize researchers, farmers and the industry persons for making tireless efforts to uplift the maize crop. Earlier, he welcomed the dignitaries and the participants from across India.
Dr HS Jat, Director, ICAR-Indian Institute of Maize Research, Ludhiana, stressed upon the usage of single cross hybrids, farm mechanization and crop management for the betterment of maize. “Maize holds competence to increase the income of the farmers through its multiple and remunerative purposes,” he added.
Dr Pranjal Yadav, Secretary, MTAI, proposed a vote of thanks.
On the occasion, Dr Surinder Sandhu, Principal Maize Breeder-cum-Incharge of Maize Section, PAU; and her breeders’ team were conferred with “Commercial Maize Hybrids Development Award.” Besides, a book entitled “Maize Cultivation for Sustainable Agriculture,” authored by Dr Surinder Sandhu and Dr Jasbir Chawla, was released at the conference alongwith other publications.
The conference saw discussions on two themes, “Genetic Enhancement under Changing Cropping Patterns” and “Novel Crop improvement Strategies and its Applications.”
The senior officials of PAU, namely Dr MIS Gill, Dean, Postgraduate Studies; Dr AS Dhatt, Director of Research; Dr MS Bhullar, Director of Extension Education; Dr CS Aulakh, Dean, College of Agriculture; and Dr GS Mangat, Additional Director of Research (Agriculture) also participated in the conference.
Read more: https://www.pau.edu/index.php?_act=manageEvent&DO=viewEventDetail&dataE=datae&intID=9496
