National Academy of Agricultural Sciences

Programmes - 2017

The XIII Agricultural Science Congress (XIII ASC) 2017 was held under the aegis of NAAS in collaboration with the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, (UASB) during February 21-24, 2017.

The theme of the Congress was “Climate Smart Agriculture” keeping in tune with the global climate change and the need for developing adaptation and mitigation strategies for achieving sustainable agriculture in the country. The Congress was attended by over 1500 participants representing the faculty and students from various SAU’s in Karnataka and other parts of the country, traditional universities, ICAR Institutes, representatives from central and state governments, farmers, NGO’s, representatives of industry including IT sector and financial institutions.

The Congress was inaugurated on February 21, 2017 by the Chief Guest Hon’ble Governor of Karnataka, and Chancellor of the University, Sri Vajubhai Vala Ji, with a special “Water the Earth Ceremony” organized on this occasion. Sri Krishna Byregowda, Hon’ble Minister for Agriculture, Government of Karnataka and Pro-chancellor of the University, Dr T. Mohapatra, Secretary, DARE and DG, ICAR, Dr Ramesh Chand, Member, NITI Aayog, Government of India, and Dr S. Ayyappan, Immediate Past President, NAAS were guests of honour. Prof Panjab Singh, President, NAAS presided over the function. Dr H. Shivanna, Vice-Chancellor, UASB graced the function as Convener of XIII ASC.

Sri D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Hon’ble Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, presided over the valedictory function on February 24, 2017. Two Hon’ble MLA’s from Karnataka State Assembly, Sri S.R. Vishwanath and Sri Y.A. Narayana Swami were guests of honour. The international representations included University of Kassel, Germany, University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA; The World Bank, Washington, USA, and ICRISAT, Hyderabad, India.

The 24th Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) of the Academy was held on June 05, 2017 at A.P. Shinde Symposium Hall, NASC Complex, New Delhi under the Chairmanship of Prof Panjab Singh, the President of the Academy. It was attended by 195 esteemed Fellowship including two Past Presidents, Prof V.L. Chopra and Prof R.B. Singh, EC members, New Fellows and Associates.

Foundation Day lecture Transforming Indian Agriculture: Some Reflections, delivered by Dr. Arvind Subramaniam, Chief Economic Adviser, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

Presidential address on ‘Reforms in Agricultural Research and Development’ was delivered by Prof. Panjab Singh, President, NAAS

Scientific Presentations by Fellowship: The presentations made by 27 newly elected Fellows highlighting their accomplishments are as follows:

Crop Improvement for Sustainable Livelihood Security by Dr R.R. Hanchinal; Plant Aroma Farming by Dr A.K. Shasany; Genomics and Wide Hybridization: A Blend for Crop Improvement by Dr Kuldeep Singh; Innovations in Pulses Breeding: Driver for Sustainable Agriculture by Dr N.P. Singh; Developing Climate Resilient Groundnut Cultivars and Strategies for Enhancing Use of Germplasm in Crop Improvement by Dr H.D. Upadhyaya; Post-harvest Value Chain in Horticulture for Livelihood Security and Entrepreneurship Development by Dr R.K. Pal; Contributions in Vegetable Improvement by Dr Bijendra Singh; Promising Technologies for Fruit Production and Post-harvest Management by Dr R.R. Sharma; Genomics: Role in Improvement of Performance in Livestock and Poultry by Dr T.K. Bhattacharya; Functional Efficacy of Indigenous Probiotic Strains of Indian Gut Origin by Dr (Ms.) Sunita Grover; Amalgamation of Repro Genomics with ARTs for Better Animal Production and Health by Dr (Mrs.) G. Taru Sharma; Epidemiology and Development of Diagnostics and Prophylactics for Important Livestock Diseases including Zoonoses by Dr V. Balamurugan; Research Contribution to Aquatic Animal Health by Dr A.S. Sahul Hameed; Mangrove and Coral Ecosystem Management from Island Fisheries Perspective by Dr S. Dam Roy; Carbon Dynamics and Greenhouse Gas Emission in Rice under Present and Anticipated Climate Change Conditions by Dr Pratap Bhattacharyya; DNRA: A Forgotten Pathway of Nitrogen Cycling in Terrestrial Ecosystems by Dr C.B. Pandey; Agronomic Biofortification of Zinc in Cereals and Pulses by Dr Y.S. Shivay; Bio-flow of Micronutrients in Soil- Plant-Animal / Human Continuum by Dr A.K. Shukla, Micro-organisms as Green Options for the Biovalorization of Agriresidues and Biofertilization of Crops by Dr Lata; Phenes to Genes for Pathogenicity and Defence by Dr P.K. Chakrabarty; Biology of Interactions between Geminiviruses and their Hosts by Dr Supriya Chakraborty; Food Safety, Environmental Fate of Contaminants and their Mitigation by Dr Irani Mukherjee; Interventions to Enhance Water Use Efficiency in Agriculture by Dr Arjamadutta Sarangi; Application of Biotechnology for Utilizing (ABoUt) Fish & Poultry Processing Wastes : Effect of Recovered Lipids and Hydrolysates by Dr Narayan Bhaskar; Some Innovative Approaches for Small Area Estimation of Agricultural and Socio-economic Parameters by Dr Hukum Chandra; Chromosomes and novel genes for biotic stress resistance and yield for stable rice production by Dr Kshirod K. Jena.

Press Conference:

In order to put forward the view points of NAAS Fellowship on GM Mustard, effectively and for their wider dissemination, a Press Conference was held in the afternoon of 5th June, 2017 in NAAS Secretariat. There were more than twenty journalists representing Press and Electronic Media. For the information to press, the resolution adopted by NAAS Fellowship in their AGM strongly recommending the release of GM Mustard, was circulated.

Brainstorming Sessions

Strategy Workshop on Vegetable Oil Economy and Production Problems in India (Convener: Dr C.D. Mayee)

Expert’s meeting on “Policy Brief on Soils ’’ (Convener: Dr C.L. Acharya and Prof. Anupam Varma)

A Brainstorming Session (BSS) on Mitigating Land Degradation Due to Water Erosion (Convener: Dr V.N. Sharda)

Expert’s Consultation to finalize Policy Brief on Innovative and Viable Solution to rice residue Burning in Rice-Wheat cropping System through Concurrent use of Super Straw Management System-fitted Combines and Turbo happy Seeder. (Conveners: Prof. Anupam Varma/Dr. Yadvinder Singh)

Strategy Workshop on Conservation Policies for Hilsa and Mahseer (Convener: Dr K.K. Vass)

Strategy Workshop on Accelerating Seed Delivery Systems (Convener: Dr K.V. Prabhu )