MOHALI: Dr Ravinder K. Kohli, Vice-Chancellor of Amity University, Mohali, here today stressed on the need for soil conservation and water management to prevent the soil degradation and erosion for the maintenance of sustainable benefits of Green Revolution.
Dr Kohli, who is a former Vice-Chancellor of Central University, Punjab, was speaking as Chief Guest at the first International Conference on “Advances in Agriculture Sciences” (ICAAS-2024), jointly organized by University School of Agricultural Sciences of Rayat Bahra University and the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology, Punjab, and Union Department of Science and Technology at Rayat Bahra University, in collaboration with Microbiologist Society of India.
Chancellor of Rayat Bahra University Gurvinder Singh Bahra said over 200 participants from India and abroad participated in the conference held in hybrid mode to exchange ideas and knowledge. The event marked the institute's commitment to agricultural research and innovation, commemorating its rich legacy and looking forward to future endeavours.
Dr Parvinder Singh, Vice-Chancellor of Rayat Bahra University, said the conference was an academic event and platform for the exchange of ideas and knowledge sharing, discussing and understanding the convergence of various technologies and their applications fostering interdisciplinary dialogue.
Dr Amita Mahajan, Head of the Department of University School of Agriculture Sciences, welcomed the guests.
Expert lectures by keynote speakers and experts at the conference included talks by Dr Balbir Singh Khadda, Deputy Director, Krishi Vigyan Kendra , Mohali, on “Prospects of Goat farming in India”, Dr Swaranjit Singh, Director, SAS Polyclinic and President, Microbiologist Society of India, Chandigarh and Prof MC Sidhu from the Department of Botany, Panjab University, Chandigarh.
Mr Bal Mukand , Chairperson food Commission Punjab discussed about the entrepreneurship in Agribusiness
Later in an online presentation on “Sustainable Agriculture and Resource Management by Dr Rajesh Jalota, Senior Project Officer, Queensland, Department of Environment, Science and Innovation, Australia, discussed with the participants the need for sustainable development of agriculture and resource management.
This was followed by an online presentation on 'Breeding for Disease resistance and Seed quality in Groundnut’ by Dr Akshaya Kumar Biswal, University of Georgia, Tifton Campus, USA.
Dr Renu Agrawal, from Central Food Technology Research Institute , Mysusru, spoke on utilization of agriculture waste to high valued products.
This was followed by a valedictory function where prizes were given to the winners of oral, Poster and project display competitions.
Finally, Dr KS Chandel, Professor of Agriculture, proposed a vote of thanks to the participants. Students of University School of Agriculture Sciences, Rayat Bahra University, presented a cultural programme.