Dr. Anup Das Appointed as New Director of ICAR-RCER, Patna

On February 6, Dr. Anup Das assumed the office as the fifth full-time director of the ICAR-Research Complex for Eastern Region. Dr. Das's current contract is for five years. On the advice of the Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB), New Delhi, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research appointed him to the position of Director.

The administrative and technical cadre members, as well as all of the institute's scientists, congratulated the newly appointed Director on this occasion.

Dr. Das explained that the institute and its centres, which include the Farming System Research Centre for the Hill and Plateau Region in Ranchi, the Research Centre for Makhana in Darbhanga, the Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Buxar, and the Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Ramgarh, conduct research on the management of water and land resources, food grains, horticulture, aquatic crops, fisheries, livestock and poultry, agro-processing, and socio-economic aspects for Our institutes are currently providing services to the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Assam, and Eastern Uttar Pradesh, and we are dedicated to expanding our reach in the future.

Focus is placed on strategic and adaptive research for effective integrated management of natural resources to increase the productivity of agricultural production systems in the eastern region; turn the eastern region from one with low productivity and high potential into one with high productivity for food, nutrition, and livelihood security; use perennial and seasonally wet water bodies for multiple uses of water; and encourage network and consortia research in the eastern region, he added.

Dr. Das placed special emphasis on agricultural innovation for entrepreneurship and job creation with the goal of raising farmers' income. Additionally, he stated that natural and organic farming, extensive rice fallow management, increased agricultural output, accessibility to more and more farmers and other stakeholders, work on millets, agro-climatic issues, etc., will be among his top objectives.

Previously, Dr. Das held the position of Principal Scientist at the ICAR Research Complex for North Eastern Hill Region, Tripura Centre, in Umiam, Meghalaya. In addition to organising numerous high-level meetings and national/international seminars, Dr. Das has conducted a significant amount of research in the area of agricultural science. He has also won awards for his work in agriculture on both a national and international scale.

The latter has conducted ground-breaking research in the areas of integrated farming systems (IFS), conservation agriculture (CA), organic farming, and climate resilient agriculture. As a result, IFS models for low, mid, and high altitudes and CA-based production technology of rice/maize - pulses/oilseeds systems (Rice/maize fallow management) have been developed.