14th Agricultural Science Congress organised by the National Academy of Agricultural Science (NAAS) in association with the Indian Agricultural Research Institute and ICAR will be held from 20 to 23 February 2019 in New Delhi on the theme "Innovations for Agricultural Transformation", which is highly topical at the stage when the Centre is making all efforts to reduce the agrarian crisis and improve farmers’ welfare by enhancing their income.
The 4-day event will include plenary sessions, technical sessions, farmers’ sessions, public lectures, poster presentations, panel discussions, inter-university student elocution contest and many satellite meetings. In addition, the ASC-AgriTech-2019 exhibition will be a main event in this Congress. A huge number of participants from various fields including policymakers, researchers, farmers, faculty, entrepreneurs, NGOs, corporate and private sector leaders and students will attend this biennial Congress of the Academy.
The Congress will also be attended by around 2000 delegates. Over 40 delegates from 17 countries – US, UK, Canada, Australia, France, Thailand, Mexico, Denmark, and Philippines etc will participate in the assembly.
The scientific programme of the Congress has been prepared in 10 thematic areas that cover up genetic improvement of the field and horticultural crop, plant protection, food processing and value addition, natural resource management, fisheries, animal sciences, social sciences and agricultural educations. In these 10 areas, 32 technical sessions will be conducted that will further cover the cutting edge areas of science and technologies such as genomics, genome editing, speed breeding, assisted reproductive technologies, vertical framing, protected cultivation, drones and remote sensing in natural resource & crop management, soil health, climate smart agriculture, residue management, emerging nutraceuticals, solar energy, ICAT aided technology delivery and so on.
The Congress will exhibit agriculture not only as the main source of employment and livelihood security for almost 50% of country’s populace, burgeoning to be the biggest in the world by the year 2025 but also as a business opportunity, service provider, industry and ecosystem protector. It will also provide an intellectually rich multi-stakeholder platform for discussing and seriously analyzing absolute disruptive innovations for converting agriculture and food systems to reshape the country.
Reflecting on the journey of the Green Revolution to the Gene Revolution, the Congress will support the need for innovations to drive congruent acceleration of output, profitability, sustainability and inclusivity. Along with innovations, it will also examine and recognize the uncommon synergistic transformative policies, strategies, institutions, partnerships, processes, products, investments, business models and human resources development.
