Brown Planthopper Outbreak in Rice Crop - Indian Agricultural ...

Dr. R.S. Paroda, Chairman, Research Advisory Council(RAC) of IARI (first from right) speaking at the meeting ofRACPratap University of Agriculture& Technology, Udaipur; Dr.J.C. Katyal, Vice-Chancellor,Chaudhary Charan Singh HaryanaAgricultural University, Hissar;Dr. R.K. Pathak, former Director,Central Institute for Sub-tropicalHorticulture, Lucknow; Dr. S.N.Shukla, Assistant Director-General(Food & Forage Crops), ICAR;Prof. H.S. Dhaliwal, Professor,Department of Biotechnology, IIT,Roorkee; Dr. S.A. Patil, Director,IARI; and Dr. K.R. Koundal,Joint Director (Research), IARI& Member-Secretary (RAC). TheJoint Director (Extension), projectdirectors, heads of divisions andregional stations, scientists - inchargeof Units, the PrincipalScientist (PPI), the Chief Finance& Accounts Officer, the ChiefAdministrative Officer, and theSenior Scientist (Research ProjectCell) also participated.The Chairman in hisintroductory remarks emphasizedthat IARI should maintain itsleadership role in meeting the newand emerging challenges at thenational level. A special mentionwas made by him of the burningissues like global climate change inrelation to sustainable agriculture,food security, protein malnutrition,natural resource management,environmental protection, useof bio-fuels as energysource, public-privatepartnership and linkingfarmers to market.He emphasized theneed for collaborativeand interdisciplinaryapproaches in the majorresearch programmesand the need fordemonstrating thetechnologies developedat IARI in farmers’ fields.Dr. Patil, made acomprehensive presentation of theIARI Vision 2025 and highlightedsome of the major researchaccomplishments of theInstitute, and the futureresearch agendas that need tobe targeted on a time scale. Dr.Koundal, while welcoming thechairman and members, gavean overview of the SRC 2007-08 and presented the actiontaken report (ATR) of thelast RAC meeting. Dr. Mehtasuggested that ATR shouldexplicitly reflect the nonachievablerecommendationsgiving constraints, if any, interms of manpower, resources andfunds. He also emphasized that thefive schools at IARI need to interactmore with each other. Thereafter,detailed school-wise presentationswere made on crop improvement,plant protection, resourcemanagement, basic sciences, andsocial sciences. The RAC madeseveral observations at the end ofeach presentation.The Chief Finance &Accounts Officer and the ChiefAdministrative Officer gaveoverviews of the progress madein financial and administrativematters, respectively. Dr. Koundalproposed a vote of thanks onthe conclusion of the RACmeeting.Parliamentary Official LanguageCommittee Inspectsthe Use of Hindi at IARIParliamentary OfficialLanguage Committee inspectedthe use of official language (Hindi)at IARI on October 7, 2008 in ameeting held at Ashoka Hotel. TheDirector, IARI, the joint directorsand the Chief Finance & AccountsOfficer were present at themeeting. Dr. S.N. Shukla, AssistantDirector-General and Shri H.C.Joshi, Director (Hindi) representedthe ICAR headquarters. Hon’blemembers of the ParliamentaryParliamentary Committee on Official Language in ameeting at Ashoka Hotel, New DelhiCommittee reviewed theprogressive use of Hindi in differentfields of work at the Institute.They suggested the increaseduse of Hindi in correspondence,introduction of Hindi as a mediumof teaching, increase in budgetfor purchase of Hindi books inthe Library, and the increased useof Hindi on computers, etc. TheCommittee was satisfied as theInstitute was meeting the targetsfor implementation of the officiallanguage.World Food DayThe Centre for AgriculturalTechnology Assessment andTransfer (CATAT) celebratedthe World Food Day on October16, 2008 in collaboration with4IARI News