QRT team meets PAU V-C, discusses water mgmt

The Quinquennial Review Team (QRT) members of the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Irrigation Water Management visited the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and interacted with Dr Satbir Singh Gosal, vice-chancellor, PAU, and other senior officials here on Tuesday.

The team comprised — Dr DK Sharma, former director, Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal (Chairman of QRT); Dr Bhakre, former dean, College of Agri-Engineering, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri; Dr Ranjit Kumar, Principal Scientist (Economics), NAARM, Hyderabad; Dr RK Panda, Principal Scientist-cum-Member, secretary QRT, ICAR-Indian Institute of Water Management (IIWM), Bhubaneshwar, and Dr S Mohanty, Principal Scientist-cum-Coordinator, ICAR-IIWM, Bhubaneshwar.

Dr Gosal welcomed the QRT members and shared his experience of water management, gained during the recent visit of PAU delegation to the Universities of Ohio, Kansas and Fresno State in the US. He also enquired about the progress of AICRP on irrigation water management from QRT members and laid future thrust on water management in the Kandi area as well as canal water management for water conservation in the state.

Dr Sharma elaborated the objectives and scope of QRT in the present context of water management in North India. Dr Rajan Aggarwal, Principal Investigator, AICRP, Soil and Water Engineering, PAU, shed light on the AICRP scheme.