ICAR Regional Committee No. - VI Meeting organized

4^th to 5^th February, 2019, Anand

The ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute and Anand Agricultural University at Anand jointly organized the ICAR organized XXV^th meeting of ICAR Regional Committee No. - VI. The Meeting was organized at Anand from 4^th to 5^th February, 2019.

The meeting comprised of states of Gujarat and Rajasthan; and UTs of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu.

The Chief Guest, Shri Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and Panchayati Raj provided a lucid account of the present agricultural scenario in the country and its special needs. The Minister underlined the need of small farm machinery that is specifically suitable for the small and fragmented holdings. Shri Rupala emphasized that the green and white revolutions were the need of the hour. He urged the stakeholders for coming together for fulfilling the Prime Minister’s promise to double up the farmers’ income. The Minister opined to promote the Integrated Farming System for the small and marginal farm holdings for the livelihood security and High-Tech Cultivation for the global markets in the cluster of villages in canal irrigated areas.

Shri Jaydrathsinghji Parmar, Minister of State for Agriculture, Government of Gujarat said that in order to enhance the seed replacement rate in the state, the State Agriculture Department intends to increase the number of seed sale points. While citing the example of Banaskantha district which has benefitted a lot from wide spread use of drip irrigation systems popularized through Pradhan Mantri Krish Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY), the Minister highlighted the role of efficient irrigation techniques in water management. He also emphasized on reducing the post-harvest (PH) losses in the country. Shri Parmar asserted on giving high priority to the value addition for saving the PH losses as well as increasing the farmers’ income.

Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary (DARE) & Director General (ICAR) mentioned that Regional Committee Meetings provide unique opportunities as ICAR institutes and SAUs of the region reach out to state line departments to listen to their problems and provide solutions, if available, otherwise initiate research programme to find suitable solution. Dr. Mohapatra also pointed out some of the key issues pertaining to organic farming, protected agriculture, dryland agriculture, arid horticulture, etc., that were expected to be discussed in detail during the 2-days meeting.

Dr. K. Alagusundaram, DDG (NRM) and Nodal Officer of Regional Committee underlined the contribution of Zone-VI in the production of cotton, castor, groundnut, pulses, oilseeds, coarse cereals, fruits, milk, etc. Dr. Alagusundaram highlighted the ICAR Institutes’ and SAUs’ strong presence in the region. He expressed his concerns over the depletion of groundwater table in the low rainfall areas of Rajasthan. The DDG suggested the need to up-scale the groundwater recharge techniques.

Shri Sanjay Prasad, Additional Chief Secretary of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare Department of Gujarat urged the farmers for selecting the crops depending on texture and fertility of the soil of their fields. He also urged them for adopting the modern production technologies.

Padma Shri Awardee, Shri Vaalabhbhai Marwaniya, a 96-years old carrot-farmer from Junagadh District was also felicitated during the inaugural function. Shri Marwaniya shared his experience of carrot cultivation, its marketing and development and adoption of suitable varieties depending on carrot uses during the occasion.

Dr. O.P. Yadav, Director CAZRI presented the Action taken report on the recommendations of XXIV^th RCM.

(Source: ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute and Anand Agricultural University, Anand)