National Conference on Horticulture at ICAR-CPCRI

17^th- 18^th November 2022, Kozhikode

ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasaragod organised a two-day National Conference on "Enhancing Competitiveness of Horticulture through Technology Innovations" during 17th – 18th November.

Dr. V.A. Parthasarathy, Former Director, ICAR- Indian Institute of Spices Research, Kozhikode said science, like recorded history, has many distortions. Experienced scientists were urged by him to re-examine studies from India that had previously mentioned the contribution from the West.

Dr. Nirmal Babu, Former Director, ICAR-IISR, said horticulture and quality of life are inextricably intertwined He also emphasised that excellence and quality are necessary to stay competitive.

Dr. Anitha Karun, Director, ICAR-CPCRI briefed about the advancement of various Indian horticultural sub-sectors. Scientists now have a greater responsibility to maintain the trend and the nation's competitiveness with other producer nations because the nation has recently broken records of year-to-year growth in horticulture production, she added.

Dr. Vikramaditya Pandey, Asst. Director General (Hort. Sci. – I) virtually delivered plenary lecture on ‘Technology innovations on fruits and vegetables’.

Dr. S. K. Malhotra, Project Director, ICAR-Directorate of Knowledge Management in Agriculture, New Delhi, Dr Ajit Kumar Shasany, Director, ICAR-National Institute for Plant Biotechnology, New Delhi, Dr. James Jacob, Managing Director, Plantation Corporation of Kerala, Ernakulam, Dr. C.K. Thankamani, Director, ICAR- Indian Institute of Spices Research, Kozhikode, Dr. T.N. Raviprasad, Director, ICAR- ICAR-Directorate of Cashew Research, Puttur deliberated in the Conference.

A special session on, ‘Stakeholders meeting on technology innovations to improve horticulture competitiveness’ was also organised.

Dr. P. Chowdappa, Former Director, ICAR-CPCRI, chaired the inauguration ceremony. Shri. M. Devaraj, IAS, CMD, Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd. also graced the session

Participants from agriculture, software start-up, coconut nurseries, NGO, and agri-inputs shared their perspectives in the meet organized by the Kalpa Agri Business Incubator.

(Source: ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasaragod)