THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Ranchi, Nov 16: Birsa Agricultural University (BAU) Ranchi will now focus on the development of climate resilient and biofortified varieties of crops so that residual moisture of kharif could be gainfully utilized in rabi season. Similarly, conservation agriculture with minimum use of water and special emphasis on oilseed and pulse crops will be promoted.
BAU Vice-Chancellor Dr SC Dubey made these remarks while addressing the 44th Kharif Research Council meeting of the university on Saturday.
Since the university is suffering from acute shortage of scientific manpower, every scientist should try to win an externally funded project so that additional manpower in the form of Research Associates and Senior Research Fellows is available in the university, he said adding “Despite scarcity of irrigation, every effort should be made to increase crop coverage under rabi, especially oilseeds, pulses and vegetables.”
Each department should set a target to publish at least two research papers per scientist in high rated national/ international journals and release one technology as per local needs and farmers’ priorities, he said.
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Dr Dubey said that Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding should conduct a study about coverage of the Jharkhand arable area by BAU-bred crop varieties so that the state government could be apprised of the study outcome and the university could get proper recognition and support. He said a lot of funds is available with the centre and state government for biodiversity conservation and scientists should come forward with suitable project proposals.
Dr SK Chaturvedi, Director of Research of Rani Laxmi Bai Central Agricultural University, Jhansi stressed on developing integrated farming system models for natural farming keeping in view the socio-economic conditions of Jharkhand farmers.
He said 10 years of data should be prepared regarding seed production in the university, government indent and lifting year to year. He advocated that varieties released during the last 10 years only should be used and such a list can be easily downloaded from the Central Variety Release Committee (CVRC) website. He stressed that seeds should be procured from the most reliable sources so that desired germination and growth are there.
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Earlier, welcoming the guests Director of Research Dr PK Singh outlined the research highlights of last rabi and informed that six new research projects worth about Rs 9.42 crore funded by RKVY, Tata Steel, Government of India and ICRISAT were received by the university during last one year. He also detailed the crop varieties recommended for Jharkhand and said that coverage of horticultural crops in Jharkhand was higher than that of the national average.
Dr Sujay Rakshit, Director IIAB, Ranchi, former BAU VC Dr GS Dubey, head of Ranchi Centre of ICAR Research Complex for Eastern Region Dr AK Singh, former Director Research Dr A Wadood and Chief Scientist of Dryland Agriculture Project Dr DN Singh also participated in the deliberations. Dr CS Mahto proposed a vote of thanks. Shashi Singh anchored the event.
Dr N Kudada, Dr Jaylal Mahto and Dr PK Jha, scheduled to superannuate within next couple of months were felicitated in recognition to their lifetime contribution to the university.
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