ICAR-RCER Organizes National Workshop on ‘Agricultural Water Management in Changing Climate’ in Patna

In his presidential address, Dr. Suresh Kumar Chaudhary, Deputy Director General, Natural Resource Management Division, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, highlighted the use of water in agriculture and discussed modern technologies such as artificial intelligence, IoT, sensor-based irrigation systems, and so on. Because the availability of water is reducing by the day, he emphasized the usage of modern irrigation systems.

Dr. Alok Kumar Sikka, Country Representative-India, IWMI, addressed the farmers and discussed flood and drought management. He also talked about sensor-based agriculture and irrigation, as well as how to grow more crops with less water. He stressed the necessity of energy saving as well as water conservation and storage.

The workshop was organized in two sessions. The chairman and the Co-chairman of the first session were Dr. Man Singh, Professor and former Project Director, Center for Water Technology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi and Dr. A.K. Sarangi, Director, Indian Institute of Water Management, Bhubaneswar respectively. In the second session, Dr. P.K. Ghosh, Director, National Institute of Biotic Stress Management, Raipur and Dr. K.G. Mondal, Director, Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Integrated Agricultural Research, Motihari were present as the Chairman & the Co-Chairman respectively.

Dr. Man Singh, Professor and former Project Director, Center for Water Technology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, in his address, said that an investment of ten lakh crore rupees is needed to improve efficient water management in the country. Now the need is being felt that the steps should be followed on the slogan  “Water First and Farmer First.”

Dr. K.G.  Mondal, Director, Mahatma Gandhi Integrated Agricultural Research Institute, Motihari informed that about 411 lakh hectares of land in the country is suffering from various water-logging problems. Bihar has 17 percent of the total flood-prone area of the country. There is a need to pay special attention to this.

Ramkar Jha, National Institute of Technology, Patna emphasized on interlinking of rivers. He also discussed the contribution of cleaning the silt of the rivers in flood management. Dr. Anjani Kumar, Director, ATARI, Patna shared information about the work being done by KVKs among the farmers on agriculture water management.

Dr. Anup Das, Director, ICAR-RECR, Patna threw light on the outline of the workshop and all the important points. Dr. Das discussed in detail about agriculture water management in North Eastern states and gave special emphasis on integrated farming systems. Dr. Ashutosh Upadhyaya discussed the Integrated Water Resource Management Strategies in the context of climate change.

In the panel discussion, Dr. S. K. Ambast, Joint Director (Education), National Institute of Biotic Stress Management, Raipur was present as the Chairman and Dr. D.J. Rajkhowa, Ex Joint Director, ICAR RC NEH Region, Nagaland as Co-Chairman.

These sessions included Dr. Bishwajit Chakraborty, Scientist-G & Head, National Institute of Hydrology, Patna; Dr. P.R. Bhatnagar, Principal Scientist, Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal; Dr. Ambarish Kumar, Dean, College of Agricultural Technology, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa; Dr. Ajay Kumar, Principal Scientist, ICAR-RCER, Patna; Dr. Manoj Kumar, Senior Scientist and Head, Research Center for Makhana, Darbhanga and Dr. Rachna Dubey, Scientist. Dr. R. D. Singh, Retrd. Principal Scientist, ICAR-RCER, Patna and Dr. S.K. Singh, Retrd. Principal Scientist, ICAR-RCER, Patna also expressed their views.

All the heads of divisions and scientists of the institute including Dr. Anil Kumar Singh, Principal Scientist participated in the discussion. During the programme, “Dr. Shivani, Principal Scientist performed the duty of anchoring, Dr. Ashutosh Upadhyaya, Head, DLWM and Sonaka Ghosh, Scientist proposed vote of thanks,” told Dr. Akram Ahmed, Scientist and Organizing Secretary of the workshop.