Nat’l conference on maize kicks off at PAU

Ludhiana, August 23

Amidst the participation of 400 scientists, students, farmers, entrepreneurs and seed as well as agro-chemical company’s representatives, the three-day national conference on maize tilted ‘A Crop for Food, Feed, Nutritional and Bioenergy Security with Environmental Sustainability’ kicked off at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) today. The conference has been organised by the Maize Technologists Association of India (MTAI) in association with the ICAR-Indian Institute of Maize Research (IIMR) and PAU, Ludhiana.

In his inaugural address, the chief guest Dr Satbir Singh Gosal, vice-chancellor, PAU, lauded the role of the private sector in enabling maize to be deemed the ‘queen of cereals.’ The adoption of simple technology for quick redressal of maize-related problems was need of the hour, he stressed, while observing that drip irrigation for maize could benefit immensely in maintaining water table.

The guest of honour Dr AK Joshi, Managing Director, Borlaug Institute of South Asia (BISA), made a call for adopting integrated and holistic approach to maintain sustainability in the sectors of food, feed and fuel.

Dr SK Vasal, World Food Prize laureate, while chairing the inaugural function, suggested managing available resources for continuous progress in research and sharing experiences and ideas with scientific fraternity to improve the skills of the others. For climate change, incremental change in bioethanaol blending will help in the long run, he observed. Dr HS Jat, Director, ICAR-Indian Institute of Maize Research, Ludhiana, stressed upon the usage of single cross hybrids, farm mechanisation and crop management for the betterment of maize.