National Webinar on “Underutilized crops for augmenting farmers’ income in abiotic stress regions”

10^th August, 2020, Baramati

The ICAR-National Institute of Abiotic Stress Management, Baramati, Maharashtra in collaboration with the Society for Abiotic Stress Research in Agricultural Sciences (SARAS) organized a National Webinar on “Underutilized crops for augmenting farmers’ income in abiotic stress regions” today.

Dr. Himanshu Pathak, Director, ICAR-NIASM highlighted the current status and importance of underutilized crops in the country. Dr. Pathak also suggested the needs and roadmap for bringing the crops back.

Dr. Narendra Pratap Singh, President, SARAS highlighted the genesis and objectives of the Society.

Dr. N. Krishna Kumar, Former Deputy Director General (Horticultural Science), ICAR & Former South Asia Representative, Biodiversity International highlighted the benefits of using the crop wild relatives in breeding programmes for multiple stress management.

Dr. S. Dandin, Former Vice-Chancellor, University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot discussed about the exploration, characterization and utilization of nutritious and underutilized fruits to achieve food and nutrition security in the country.

Dr. Kuldeep Singh, Director, ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi outlined the research and varieties released under the various underutilized crops in the ICAR-All India Coordinated Research Network on Potential Crops under the aegis of the ICAR.

Dr. Vilas Tonapy, Director, ICAR-Indian Institute of Millet Research, Hyderabad highlighted the crop improvement programmes, strategies and developmental initiatives for improved production and promotion of millets in Indian context.

More than 275 participants including scientists from Public and Private Research Institutes, Post-Graduate Students, Agricultural Consultants and Progressive Farmers participated in the Webinar.

The Webinar was aimed at exploring the scope, identifying the sources, building awareness and imparting the knowledge on underutilized crops for the regions affected by abiotic stresses, such as, drought, salinity and alkalinity.

(Source: ICAR-National Institute of Abiotic Stress Management, Baramati, Maharashtra)