27th ICAR Regional Committee-II Meeting organized at ICAR-NRRI, Cuttack
The 27th Meeting of ICAR Regional Committee-II was held on 23rd August 2024 at ICAR-National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack organized by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi. Shri Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister of Govt. of Odisha and Minister of Agriculture and Farmer’s Empowerment & Energy was the Chief Guest and Shri Bhagirath Choudhary, Hon’ble Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Govt. of India was the Guest of Honour and inaugurated this prestigious meeting. The purpose of this meeting was to address the current and emerging problems related to agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry and fisheries sector in this region comprising the states of West Bengal, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Andaman & Nicobar Islands in the backdrop of extreme climate change events and other adversaries.
The Chief Guest Shri Singh Deo while addressing the august gathering stated that the central and state governments are systematically addressing climate-related crop issues through discussions and formulating action plans. Such successful collaborations are crucial for the progress of farmers. The government is making several efforts to increase investment in the agricultural industry. The Govt. of Odisha is now planning to build cold storages and cold room facilities across the state, which will help the farmers in removing the risk of distress sale and simultaneously will ensure better returns. So far as farm mechanization is concerned, in Odisha highest mechanization level is in land preparation followed by threshing and winnowing while the lowest is in seeding and planting operation. He emphasized the need of mechanization in seeding/planting as well as in harvesting operations to reduce cost of cultivation and increase returns. He added that as we continue to develop and implement programs, our approach will be to monitor expenditures, evaluate results, and adjust strategies as needed to ensure that the agricultural sector receives the maximum possible benefit from our investments.
The Guest of Honour Shri Choudhary in his keynote address said that prioritizing the research is the need of this hour to combat the challenges faced by farmers in this region caused due to climate change events like floods, droughts, cyclones, heatwave, pest & disease infestations etc. which are currently affecting agricultural productivity. He emphasized on the creation of more numbers of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) which have proven a pathway to successfully deal with a range of challenges that confront farmers today, especially small producers. The aggregation of marginal, small and landless farmers as FPOs has helped increase market linkages to improve farmers’ income and economic strength. Shri Choudhary opined that Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) have transformed themselves incubating agri start-ups unleashing the entrepreneurship spirit among the farmers. The Govt. of India is fully committed to transform Indian agriculture and improve the livelihood of farmers through various measures and at the same time striving to maintain agricultural production activities without harming the environment.
Dr. Himanshu Pathak, Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and Director General (DG), Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi chaired the meeting. Dr. Pathak in his speech emphasized upon the need of effective convergence and continuous interaction between research institutions and development departments for addressing the problems of the region. Dr. T.R. Sharma, Deputy Director General (Crop Science), ICAR welcomed all the invited dignitaries and briefed about the objectives and importance of the regional committee meeting and stated that such meetings help scientists to reorient their research programmes to address immediate and futuristic problems. Dr. P.S. Birthal, Director, National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research, New Delhi presented the background of RCM-II and highlighted the major accomplishments of agricultural research and development in this region.
Members of Governing Body of ICAR, Deputy Director Generals of ICAR, Vice Chancellor and Deans of Research & Extension of SAUs, Assistant Director Generals of ICAR, Directors of different ICAR Institutes and senior officials from State Government Departments of five states and scientists attended this meeting. The day-long event witnessed presentation of action taken reports, interactive sessions with senior functionaries from different state government departments. A comprehensive research agenda for these five states relating to agricultural technology assessment, refinement and transfer was deliberated through plenary session. On this occasion, a number of publications were released by the Chief Guest and other dignitaries.
Dr. A.K. Nayak, Director, ICAR-NRRI, Cuttack offered the vote of thanks for the programme.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
