India’s ICAR DG Calls for innovations in Agriculture

In a valedictory address during the 9th Agricultural Science Congress, Director General (DG) of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research Mangla Rai stressed the need for innovations in agriculture to harness benefits for the farmers. He emphasized the importance of prioritizing research, development and policy issues that improve the lot of Indian farmers and extensively deliberated on the recommendations set forth by the eight sub-themes of the Congress. The DG also noted the "use of frontier sciences like biotechnology that have opened new vistas to develop new and novel genotypes in plants and animals."

The 9th Agricultural Science Congress was held jointly by the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) and Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology of Kashmir (SKUAST-K) from June 22-24, 2009 in Srinagar. The Congress theme was "Technological and Institutional Innovations for Enhancing Agricultural Income". More than 600 people including eminent agriculture scientists of the country, vice chancellors of agriculture universities and directors of national institutes participated in the Congress.

For details about the 9^th Agricultural Science Congress visit https://outlook.irri.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.icar.org.in/news/9-NASC-conclude.htm and https://outlook.irri.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.icar.org.in/news/9-NASC.htm . For more information about biotechnology development in India contact b.choudhary@cgiar.org and k.gaur@cgiar.org