Country’s premier plant health symposium concludes at PAU

Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, successfully concluded the national symposium on “Frontiers in Plant Health Management: Integrating Research, Technology and Sustainability”.

Jointly organised by the Indian Society of Plant Pathologists (INSOPP), the Indian Phytopathological Society (IPS) and ICAR–Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, the symposium brought together country’s leading experts in the field of plant protection and set the stage for high-level scientific deliberations on emerging challenges and future directions in plant health management.

The event saw participation from more than forty renowned speakers from across over the country representing premier ICAR institutes, state agricultural universities, research laboratories and agri-tech organisations. Their lectures and discussions covered a broad spectrum of contemporary themes including plant disease epidemiology under climate variability, pathogen genomics, artificial intelligence-driven diagnostics, bio-nanotechnology, remote sensing applications in plant health surveillance, technology-enabled crop disease management strategies.

Additionally, over one hundred poster presentations highlighted innovative research findings and emerging breakthroughs by young scientists and postgraduate scholars from across the country, adding vibrancy and depth to the scientific discourse.

A major attraction of the symposium was the conferring of distinguished awards recognising outstanding contributions in plant pathology. Among the honours presented were the Dr NK Patel Memorial Young Scientist Award, Prof MJ Narasimhan Academic Award, APS Travel Sponsorship Award, Dr SS Kang Best PhD Thesis Award, Dr SS Chahal Best Master’s Thesis Award and the Dr TS Thind Distinguished Plant Pathologist Award. The enthusiastic participation of early-career researchers in these competitive categories underscored the strong scientific talent pipeline in the country. PAU Vice-Chancellor, Dr SS Gosal, congratulated the organisers for the seamless conduct.