Hon’ble Governor of Goa, Shri. P.S. Sreedharan Pillai inaugurates the three-day National Symposium on “Climate Smart Agronomy for Resilient Production Systems and Livelihood Security”

22nd November 2023, Goa

Hon’ble Governor of Goa, Shri. P.S. Sreedharan Pillai inaugurates the three-day National Symposium on “Climate Smart Agronomy for Resilient Production Systems and Livelihood Security” on 22nd November 2023. The symposium is jointly organised by ICAR-Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute, Goa and the Indian Society of Agronomy from 22nd – 24th November 2023 at St. Joseph Vaz Spiritual Renewal Centre, Old Goa, Goa.

Shri. Pillai highlighted the global challenge of sustainable food production in the face of climate change, particularly in coastal agriculture, which is threatened by natural disasters like sea level rise, floods, cyclones, and tsunamis. He emphasized the need for research strategies to provide sustainable livelihoods to the thriving human populations in these coastal regions.

During the inaugural function, Dr. Himanshu Pathak, Secretary (DARE) & Director General (ICAR), said that agronomy is one of the most important pillars of agriculture. He emphasised that there is a vital role of science and technology-driven innovations in achieving food and nutritional security while making agriculture more efficient, competitive, profitable and sustainable. Dr. Pathak said that through the development of technologies, ICAR is poised to continue “Atmanirbhar Bharat” (self-reliance) in food, nutrition and livelihood security to achieve the aspirations of a developed India.

Dr. S. K. Chaudhari, Deputy Director General (NRM), ICAR, said that the development and identification of appropriate location-specific climate-resilient agronomic practices are the foremost steps for the agriculture sector to move to climate-smart pathways, which can effectively address climate, food security and poverty concerns in the short term and the livelihood and sustainability concerns in the long term.

Padma Shree Dr. Arvind Kumar, Former Vice-Chancellor Rani Lakshmibai Central Agricultural University, Jhansi; Dr. A.K. Vyas, VC, Agriculture University, Kota; Dr B. R. Kamboj, VC, CCS, HAU, Haryana; Dr. V. M.  Bhale, VC, PDKV, Akola and Dr. B.S. Mahapatra, President, Indian Society of Agronomy, were also present during the inaugural function.

About 550 delegates from India as well as SAARC countries like Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan participated in the symposium.

(Source: ICAR-Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute, Goa)