The Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI) under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) at Kasaragod, Kerala will organise an exhibition and a national seminar on its campus for three days from January 3, 2025 on the occasion of its 109th foundation day.
The topic of the seminar is ‘harnessing plantation sector for sustainable development goals.’ Various sessions of the seminar will be held on all three days. The foundation day will be celebrated on January 5.
Himanshu Pathak, Director General, ICAR and Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education, will inaugurate the programmes on January 3 at 10 a.m.
The seminar will be attended by scientists, students, agri entrepreneurs, officials from developmental agencies from different States, FPOs, farmers, and other stakeholders, K.B. Hebbar, director, CPCRI said in a release.
The seminar is organised to take stock of the progress achieved in the plantation sector in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in 2015 and make strategies for the next five years to meet the shortcomings.
The plantation sector’s contribution is quite significant in terms of reducing hunger and poverty, and safeguarding the environment. The seminar covers some SDGs of relevance to the plantation sector like biodiversity and genomics, AI and digital tools, regenerative agriculture and resource use efficiency, eco-friendly plant health management, mechanisation and product diversification, market trend, policies and entrepreneurship, participatory extension, and community empowerment, the director said.
Mr. Hebbar said that the seminar will include invited talks from eminent personalities from different fields in agriculture, panel discussions, interfaces, oral and poster presentations, exhibitions, field visits and presenting young researcher awards. The occasion also includes the signing of MoUs for the transfer of varieties, production and protection technologies, and value added products, he said.
A grand exhibition of technologies available in the various ICAR institutes, Krishi Vignana Kendras, development agencies, products of successful entrepreneurs, self-help groups will be held on all the three days to which people can visit freely.
In addition to the technologies developed by CPCRI and the Coconut Development Board, technologies on cashew developed by the Directorate of Cashew Research, Puttur, Dakshina Kannada, on spices by IISR, Calicut, on tuber crops by CTCRI Thiruvananthapuram, on oil palm by IIOPR, Pedavegi, on oil seeds by IIOR, Hyderabad, on fruits and vegetable by IIHR, Bengaluru, on fisheries by CMFRI and CIFT, Kochi, on rubber by RRII ,Kottayam and on coffee developed by CCRI, Balehonnur are arranged for the benefit of farmers and other stakeholders.
In addition to the value-added products, food items, seeds, nursery seedlings, biofertilizers, irrigation and farm equipment, handicraft items, agro finance etc., will be on display.
In the exhibition venue, training on coconut/arecanut cultivation, value addition and chocolate making are organized.
The three-day program will be attended by Deputy Director General (Horticulture), Deputy Director General (Extension), Assistant Director General (P&FC), Director of ICAR institutes, presidents of many co-operative societies and researchers from all over the country along with farmers in large numbers, Mr. Hebbar said.
Published – December 25, 2024 07:57 pm IST
