Central Rice Research Institute Annual report...2011-12

EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Organization of Events, Workshops, Seminars and Farmers’ Day
CRRI Foundation Day
The 65 th CRRI Foundation Day of CRRI was celebrated
on 23 April, 2011 at CRRI, Cuttack. Dr. C.D.
Mayee, Chairman, Agricultural Scientists Recruitment
Board (ASRB), New Delhi and Chief Guest of the
programme spoke on the developments in agriculture
and the efforts of the ASRB to identify talent. Dr. S.K.
Datta, Deputy Director General (Crop Sciences), ICAR,
New Delhi and Guest of Honour of the function outlined
the role of rice in food security and to evolve new
strategies in the plant breeding programmes. Shri U.P.
Singh, IAS, Principal Secretary (Agriculture), Government
of Odisha, gave an overview of rice production in
Odisha. A documentary film “Golden Panicle” on CRRI
and an Oriya booklet “Method of Scientific Rice Production”
were released. Ten progressive farmers were
felicitated. Shri Ashirbad Pradhan, Shri Saswat Lenka
and Kumari Somika Nayak were awarded cash prize
for their academic achievement in Std.-X from Best Institute
award fund.
On the eve of the foundation day, Dr. C. D. Mayee
delivered the 2 nd Foundation Day lecture on “Do GM
crop regulations aid or abate farm or farmers”.
Eastern Zone Agricultural Fair
Central Rice Research Institute organized the Eastern
Zone Regional Agricultural Fair 2011-12 sponsored
by Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry
of Agriculture, Govt. of India from 21 to 23 February
2012 on the theme “Technologies and Programmes for
Second Green Revolution in Eastern India”. The fair
was organised under the chairmanship of Dr. T.
Mohapatra, while Dr. B.N. Sadangi acted as co-chairman
and Dr. G.A.K. Kumar as Organising Secretary.
The fair attracted 1250 farmers and farmwomen from
from Eastern India and provided opportunities to research
institutes, extension agencies, govt. and nongovt.
organizations to showcase their technologies,
programmes and policies meant for agriculture development
of the region. The events started with an inauguration
function which was attended by Dr. R. P. Dua,
ADG, Crop Science as Chief Guest, Dr. A. K. Padhee,
IAS, Director Special Project, Panchayati Raj Department,
Govt. of Odisha, Shri R. S. Gopalan, IAS, Director
of Agriculture & Food Production, Govt. of Odisha as
Guest of Honour, Shri Kshetrabasi Behera, a renowned
agripreneur of Odisha as Guest. The inauguration was
presided by Dr. T. Mohapatra, Director, CRRI. A multi
lingual souvenir, extension booklets and technology
bulletins were released on this occasion.
The final day was marked by a valedictory function
which was attended by eminent guests, Shri G. C. Pati,
IAS, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt.
of India as Chief Guest and Prof. D. P. Ray, Vice Chancellor,
OUAT as Guest of Honour. The guests lauded
the potentiality of eastern India in agriculture sector
and elaborated the concerns of the Central and State
Govt. to harness the potentiality. Dr. T. Mohapatra,
Director, CRRI while summarizing the efforts of CRRI
in the said direction, called upon the participating farmers
to disseminate their experiences and play a catalytic
role in their micro situations. Eleven farmers and
three farm women from different states were felicitated
by the Chief Guest for their innovative behavior in farming.
CRRI ANNUAL REPORT 2011-12
119