Sustain agriculture productivity to ensure rural livelihood: Experts

Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 10

The plenary session of the three-day national seminar on “Sustainable Rural Livelihood: Technological and Institutional Perspective” organised by the Division of Agricultural Extension Education, Sher-i-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology of Jammu (SKUAST-J) and the Society for Community Mobilisation for Sustainable Rural Development, New Delhi, was held on the SKUAST-Jammu main campus Chatha today.

AK Singh, Deputy Director General (Agriculture Extension), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi, was the chief guest at the plenary session and the function was presided over by Pradeep K Sharma, Vice Chancellor, SKUAST-Jammu.

AK Singh laid emphasis on generating real-time data for formulating programmes to overcome real-time problems in agriculture.

The Vice Chancellor, SKUAST-Jammu, thanked the delegates, who came from all over India, for participating in technical discussions to formulate a future roadmap for agriculture research and extension.

PL Gautam, Vice-President, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), was the guest of honour at the plenary session.

JP Sharma, President, Mobilization, presented the recommendations of the technical sessions that emphasised on sustaining agriculture productivity to ensure rural livelihood and food sovereignty of the country besides economic viability of small-scale family farming.

A separate session of farmer-scientist and farmer-farmer interaction was also conducted in which farmers from J&K, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh participated and interacted with renowned agri scientists from different states.

The lifetime achievement award was given to BS Hansra, Professor Emeritus, Amity International University, and former Assistant Director General, ICAR, and founder Director School of Agriculture, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi, for his contribution to teaching, research, extension and policy planning at the national level.

The best community mobilisation awards were presented to Rakesh Nanda, Professor and Head, Division of Agricultural Extension Education, SKUAST-Jammu, Rajinder Peshin, Associate Professor, Division of Agricultural Extension Education, SKUAST-Jammu, and Narayan Kumbhare, Scientist, Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, for their contribution to the field of research and outreach programmes.

Anupam Mishra, Zonal Project Director, Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK), RR Burman, senior scientist, IARI, New Delhi, and Dr Anjani Kumar, programme coordinator, KVK, Shikohpur, Gurgaon, were honoured with Mobilisation Fellow Award.

The young professional awards to the scientists and research scholars were also presented. The progressive farmers/outstanding agro-industries, who participated in the seminar, were also awarded on the occasion for their contribution to food and nutritional security.