Plant Registration Body Officials Pay a Visit to CSK Himachal Pradesh Agri University

Dr. DK Aggarwal, Registrar General of PPV&FRA, and Deputy Registrar RS Sengar met with HPAU Vice-Chancellor Prof HK Chaudhary to discuss the registration process of released and farmers' varieties of various crops in the state.

According to Chaudhary, the state produces a wide range of crops such as red rice, maize, kulthi, mash, rajmash, millets, chilli, garlic, colocasia, cucumber, reddish, potato, ginger, and so on. He stated that the university was working to characterize and purify varieties for registration with the PPV & FRA in order to protect farmers' rights.

He stated that the institution had registered Chhohartu, a farmers' variety of red rice grown in the Chohara and Ransar valleys of Rohru in Shimla, as well as three landraces of maize — Hachhi, Ratti, and Chitku — grown in the Salooni block of Chamba.

The Plant Genome Saviour Community Award was given to both communities by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. The VC stated that the Germplasm Resource Network would be established soon at the university to capitalise on the potential of Northwest Himalayan plant genetic resources.

He added that, while the university had already registered 28 released varieties, farmers' varieties of rice, rajmash, and mash had also been submitted for registration.

Sarwan Kumar Chaudhary Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, also known as CSK Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University and formerly Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, is an agricultural university in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India.