Institute gets Rs9.47-crore for project

Dipender Manta

THE Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi, has got a grant of Rs 9.47 crore for a research project “Smart Agriculture Farmer Zone”, aiming at enhancing the production of crops to strengthen the economy of farmers. Timothy A Gonsalves, Director, IIT-Mandi, said the Rs 9.47-crore project was sanctioned by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India. IIT Mandi’s share in the project is Rs 7.5 crore.

IIT-Mandi is the lead institution, overseeing the integration of science, technology, innovation and farm ecosystem for effective agriculture decision making to address food scarcity and build a sustainable future in India. The project is being headed by Dr Srikant Srinivasan, School of Computing and Electrical Engineering (SCEE), and Dr Shayam, School of Basic Science, IIT-Mandi, in collaboration with several domestic and international partners from the United States and United Kingdom. The Director is the national coordinator for the execution of the project.

He said under the project, 1,000 potato farmers were benefitting and information related to crop yield was sent to them through mobile apps.

Programme on technology

IIT-Mandi held a one-day tutorial programme on “Emerging Science and Technology” at its Kamand campus. The  tutorial  aimed  at  unravelling  the  various  aspects  of  science  and  technology  pertaining  to sustainable  development. It  brought to  the  fore  advanced  computing  techniques  to  understand and  solve  difficult  computational  problems,  tools  and  techniques  to  improve  agricultural practices,  manufacturing  processes,  environment-friendly  electric   vehicles,  nano-scale technologies  for  next  generation  systems  and  development  of  material  and  processes  for environmental  sustainability.

Science congress

Himachal Pradesh Science Congress was held at IIT-Mandi last month. The  event  was  jointly  organised  by  the Himachal  Pradesh  Council  for  Science,  Technology,  and Environment (HIMCOSTE) and IIT-Mandi on the theme “Rural Upliftment through Science and Technology  Interventions”. 

Sixth convocation 

A total of 211 students were conferred degrees during the sixth convocation of the Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi, recently. Around 29 PhD scholars, 11 MS, 28 MSc (chemistry), 11 MSc (mathematics), 20 MTech and 112 BTech students were honoured. The number of research scholars graduating this year has increased to 40 as compared to 31 last year.