Programmes - 2019
- The XIV Agricultural Science Congress (XIV ASC) 2019 was held under the aegis of NAAS in collaboration with the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi during February 20- 23, 2010.
The theme of the Congress was “Innovations for Agricultural Transformation” The Congress was attended by over 1500 participants representing the faculty and students from various SAU’s 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. This Congress provided an intellectually rich multi stakeholder platform for discussing and critically analyzed veritable disruptive innovations for transforming agriculture and food systems to reshape India. It showcased agriculture not only as the main source of employment and livelihood security for nearly 50 per cent of India’s population, bulging to be the largest in the world by 2025, but also as a business opportunity, service provider, industry, and ecosystem protector. Reflecting on the journey from the green revolution to the gene revolution, the Congress emphasized the need for innovations to drive congruent acceleration of productivity, profitability, sustainability, equity and inclusivity.
During four day Congress, 32 technical sessions were organised covering 10 broad theme areas viz. Plant Sciences (Field Crops); Plant Sciences (Horticultural Crops); Natural Resource Management; Plant Protection; Food Science and Value Addition; Animal Sciences Livestock, Dairy and Poultry; Fisheries; Engineering & IT; Social Sciences and Agricultural Education. In these technical sessions involving different theme areas, a large number of eminent invited speakers presented their research. In the Congress four panel discussions on the topics Agriculture 2030: Meeting SDGs; Pathways and Investment Priorities; Regulation of GMOs and Genome-edited Products and Inclusive Growth in Agriculture were held in which very senior level experts involving scientists, policy makers, development departments and farmer groups actively participated and presented their views.
- The 26th Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) of the Academy was held on June 05, 2019 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 212 esteemed Fellowship including EC members, New Fellows and Associates.
- Foundation Day Lecture on ‘Can India’s Success in Agriculture Benefit Africa?’, was delivered by Dr Peter Carberry, Director General, International Centre for Research in Semi-Arid Tropics.
- Presidential Address on “Feeding 1.7 billion” was deliverd by Prof. Panjab Singh, President of the Academy.
Scientific Presentations by Fellowship: The presentations made by 30 newly elected Fellows including 2 Foreign Fellow highlighting their accomplishments are as follows: Development of High Yielding, Disease Resistant and Nutritive Varieties of Wheat for High Productive Environments of the Country by Dr Ravish Chatrath; Next-generation Molecular Breeding for a Food Sufficient Future by Dr Swarup Kumar Parida; Co 0238 – A Wonder Variety of Sugarcane and its Impact in Sub-tropical India by Dr Bakshi Ram; Creation of Variability and its Utilization in Oilseed Brassica Improvement by Dr Kunwar Harendra Singh; Multi-trait Improvement in Rice through Marker Assisted Breeding by Dr Raman Meenakshi Sundaram; Metabolic Engineering and Bioprocessing for Value Addition to Agriculture by Dr Sudesh Kumar Yadav; Breeding for Economized F1 Hybrid Seed Production in Chilli by Dr (Ms) Kambham Madhavi Reddy; RNA Interference- Mediated Crop Improvement by Dr Debasis Pattanayak; Development of Bacterial Wilt Resistant Varieties/hybrids and Breeding Lines of Tomato and Brinjal by Dr Arun Kumar Singh; Global Bluetongue Virus Epidemiology and Control by Dr (Ms) Sushila Maan; Emerging Zoonotic Viral Infections by Dr Devendra Tarachand Mourya; Molecular Pathogenesis and Development of Diagnostics for Infectious Diseases with Particular Reference to Control and Management of Paratuberculosis (Johne’s disease) in Animals by Dr Bhupendra Nath Tripathi; Manipulation of Rumen Microbes to Produce Conjugated Linoleic Acid Enriched Designer Milk by Dr Amrish Kumar Tyagi; Carp Disease Diagnosis and its Therapeutic Development by Dr Basanta Kumar Das; Present Use and Future Scope of Nano Technology in Aquaculture by Dr Priyabrat Swain; Sustainable Intensification and No-till Farming Effect in Rice and Maize Fallows on Food and Environmental Security in North East India by Dr Anup Das; Conservation Agriculture for Higher Productivity, Resourceuse Efficiency and Sustainability in Cereals Systems in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of India by Dr Tapas Kumar Das; Vulnerability of Agriculture Communities to Climate Change - Western Himalaya, India by Dr Pawan Kumar Joshi; Managing Soils for Enhancing Carbon Sequestration and Soil Quality: A New Insight by Dr Tapan Jyoti Purakayastha; Role of Algae and Aquatic Bioresources for Sustainable Development by Dr Dinabandhu Sahoo; Advances in Wheat Pathology Research-Conventional to Molecular Approaches by Dr (Ms) Rashmi Aggarwal; New Paradigms of Host Plant Resistance to Insects and Sustainable Pest Management by Dr Mukesh Kumar Dhillon; Use of Enzyme and Microbial Cells for Removal of Antinutrients/ Toxicants from Food and Agro By-product Utilization by Dr Sunil Kumar Khare; Environmental Fate of Pesticides and their Mitigation by Dr (Ms) Neera Singh; Improving Bioavailability of Food Bioactives and Nutrients through Novel Food Delivery Systems by Dr C. Anandharamakrishnan; Improved Hand Tools and Machines for Hill and Tribal Farmers by Dr Krishna Pratap Singh; Estimation of Balanced GDP through Reconciliation in SUT by Dr Akhilesh Chandra Kulshreshtha; Mainstreaming Autonomous Strategies for Addressing Land Degradation: Bottom-up Approaches in Enhancing UNCCD Policy on Environmental Sustainability in India by Dr Ranjay Kumar Singh; Improving Rice Productivity in Less Favorable Areas and Resilience to Climate Change by Dr Abdelbagi M. Ismail; Developments in Food Sterilization from Appert to Pascal by Dr Hosahalli Ramaswamy.
Brainstorming Sessions/ Strategy Workshop
- NAAS Experts Meet on Uniform Policy for Fish Disease Diagnosis and Quarantine was held on 29 January, 2019 in order to develop a uniform policy on fish disease diagnosis and quarantine for the country to strengthen disease management in aquaculture. The meet included experts from ICAR Institutes under Fisheries and Animal Sciences Divisions, besides eminent scientists from SAUs, State Universities, State Governments, Officials of DAHD&F and Executive Committee members of NAAS.
- A Brainstorming Session on Vertical Farming (VF) was organized by the Academy on April 11, 2019 under the Chairmanship of Prof Panjab Singh, President, NAAS. The session was convened by Prof Brahma Singh, former, OSD (Hort.), Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi with Dr T. Janakiram, ADG (Hort.), ICAR, New Delhi, as Co-convener. A number of experts/ scientists/planners, both from public and private sector, attended the session. After detailed deliberation, the global status of available expertise on different facets of VF of vegetables, ornamental horticulture, micro greens, mushrooms, plant-nurseries, hydroponic-fodder, poultry, fisheries, orchids and herbs was presented. It is also highlighted the great potential of this technology, especially for the urban and peri-urban areas.
- One-day Brainstorming Session on Loan Waiving versus Income Support Schemes: Challenges and the Way Forward was organized on 24th June 2019 to deliberate on the efficacy of loan waivers in detail and explore the other alternative options to deal with agrarian distress efficiently and effectively under the Convenership of Dr P. K. Joshi. Several policy options and strategies were proposed to support farmers and ensure sustainable and inclusive agricultural growth in India.
- A Brainstorming Session on Enhancing Science Culture in Agricultural Research Institutions was organized at the Academy on June 25, 2019. The workshop was convened by Dr N.H. Rao to address recent concerns about aligning the science culture in public agricultural research institutions towards research of higher quality, relevance and impact.
- The National Academy of Agricultural Sciences constituted a Core Group for preparing the National Soil and Land Use Policy at the behest of Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Govt. of India. The Core Group had four regional consultation meetings with agricultural scientists from NARES, representatives from line departments and progressive farmers at Bengaluru, Kolkata, Bhopal and New Delhi. The draft report prepared by the Core Group discussed at the Experts’ group meeting convened under Chairmanship of President, NAAS on April 13, 2019 at New Delhi, in the wake of an enhanced recognition of the fragility of natural resources and their significance in overall well-being of the mankind, public interest in restoration and maintenance of these finite resources in the recent past.
- A Brainstorming Session was organised on Zero Budget Natural Farming-Myth or Reality on August, 21 2019 under the Convenership of Dr H.S. Gupta. About 70 experts representing scientists across disciplines and organisations, policy makers, industrialists (fertilizer, chemicals and pesticide, seeds), Govt. Departments, NGOs, Farmers and others participated. After the meeting, the Academy is of the considered opinion that there is no scope for an incremental value gained by the farmer or the consumer through ZBNF that represents one of the many such practices followed in India prior to the 1960s when no more than 60 million tons of food grains were produced, making ZBNF a technology that lacks rationale or acceptability as a production technology. Therefore, it is recommended that the Government of India should not needlessly invest capital, efforts, time and human resources towards promoting the ZBNF on the grounds of technical infeasibility for India to explore this unproven and unscientifically proposed technology.
- A Brainstorming Session on Tropical Wilt Race-4 Affecting Banana Cultivation was organized on September 25, 2019 to understand the etiology and devise suitable management strategies against the virulent strain of Fusarium wilt of banana. The session was Convened by Dr. Rashmi Aggarwal with Dr. S. Uma and Dr. R.K. Jain as Co-conveners.
- A Brainstorming Session on Payment for Ecosystem Services in Agriculture was organized on October 31, 2019 by Dr. P.S. Birthal as Convener and Dr Saudamini Das, NABARD Chair Professor, Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi as Co-convener.
- A Brainstorming Session on Food Borne Zoonotic Diseases was organized on 21st November 2019 by Dr A.K. Srivastava, Vice President, NAAS as Convener.
- A Brainstorming Session on Livestock Improvement through Artificial Insemination was organized on 6th December 2019. The Session was Convened by Dr. A.K. Srivatava, Vice President, NAAS.
- A brainstorming session on Big data Analytics in Agriculture was organized by National Academy of Agricultural Sciences on December 18, 2019.
