"Food production has become more resilient, and modern agricultural practices have increased productivity while decreasing greenhouse gas emissions," said Dr. Himanshu Pathak, Secretary (DARE) & Director General.
Dr. Pathak was speaking at the "Annual Conference of ICAR Directors, Vice Chancellors, and Industries - 2023" hosted by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi from April 4th to 6th, 2023 at the National Agricultural Science Complex Centre in New Delhi.
Jatindra Nath Swain, Secretary (Fisheries), Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying, outlined the Department of Fisheries' expectations from ICAR. Furthermore, research on fishing technologies should be prioritised in order to increase the per capita availability of fish from 6 kg/capita/year to 24 kg/capita/year.
Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, urged research prioritization and collaboration among institutes working on similar issues. He stated that the role of students during the RAWE period should be used to generate feedback from farmers to the government. According to Ahuja, there is a strong need to shorten the time between new research/technology development and field adoption.
The importance of a vibrant and dynamic organisation was emphasised by Sanjay Garg, Additional Secretary (DARE) and Secretary (ICAR). He believes that in order to improve administrative efficiency, the organisation must be lean and thin in order to be more flexible and always ready for change.
Alka Nangia Arora, Additional Secretary (DARE) & Financial Advisor (ICAR), expressed concern about the mismanagement of funds. She argued that financial management is an important factor in making better and more efficient use of resources.
Earlier, in his welcome address, Dr. R.C. Agrawal, Deputy Director General (Agricultural Education), praised the DG, ICAR for organizing the VC, Director, and Industry meet on a single platform in Amrit Kal. He emphasized the importance of millets in his speech. Dr. Tej Partap, Chairman of the 6th Dean's Committee and Former Vice-Chancellor of GBPUAT, presented Dr. Pathak with the draught report. The report is for the NEP-2020 revised course curriculum for UG Agriculture.
On the occasion, the dignitaries also released various ICAR publications. The Conference was attended by Vice Chancellors of State Agricultural Universities, Deputy Director Generals of ICAR, Directors of ICAR Institutes, and Senior ICAR Officials.
