The 26th Annual Breeder Seed Review meeting and 38th Annual Group Meeting of AICRP on Seed (Crops) was organized at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Coimbatore on Tuesday by ICAR – Indian Institute of Seed Research, Mau and Seed Centre, TNAU.
Raveendran, Director of Research, TNAU welcomed the gathering. The progress of AICRP on Seed (Crops) 2022-23 was presented by Sanjay Kumar, Director, ICAR-IISS, Mau. Yadava, ADG (Seed), ICAR, New Delhi was the Guest of Honour. He emphasized that the role played by public sector in the production and supply of quality seeds has to be increased by the implementation of special programmes.
Geethalakshmi, Vice-Chancellor, TNAU said that the Department of Seed Science and Technology which was established as the first of its kind in the year 1972 in India has completed 50 Glorious Years and celebrating Golden Jubilee.
She congratulated all the scientists who worked with dedication since inception which eventually led to the growth and development.
The Vice-Chancellor emphasized that seed is the basic input in agriculture and also the first link in the food chain. The efficacy of all other agricultural inputs is dependent on the quality of the seed. The increase in the supply of quality seed is therefore very crucial to ensure the food security of the nation.
She expressed her heartfelt thanks to Sanjay Kumar, Director, ICAR-IISS for giving the opportunity to Seed Centre, TNAU to host the Annual Group Meeting on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee celebration of the Department. She also mentioned the three important technologies namely, seed coating, seed pelleting and seed cube technology released by TNAU.
The publication on the Glimpses of Annual Report 2022-23 of AICRP on Seed (Crops) was released by the dignitaries. The Best Centre Awards and distribution of certificate for technology development was announced. The host institute TNAU receives the Best Performance Seed Technology Research Centre Award 2022-23 and Best Performance Quality Seed Production Centre Award 2022-23 was received by CSKHPKV, Palampur (SAUs Category) and ICAR – IIMR, Ludhiana (ICAR Category). The retired scientists of Department of Seed Science and Technology, TNAU, Coimbatore were honoured by the dignitaries as a part of Golden Jubilee celebration.
The presidential address was delivered by Sharma, Deputy Director General (CS), ICAR, NewDelhi. Umarani, Director, Seed Centre, TNAU proposed the vote of thanks. Around 250 scientists working on seeds participated in the meeting.
As a part of this event, a grand expo on Advances in Seed Technology was arranged in which various Directorates of TNAU, private seed companies, private firms pertaining to seed processing machineries, crop inputs, seed storage and artificial intelligence displayed their technologies and products. The scientists across the country, farmers and students of TNAU viewed the exhibits and gained knowledge on seed production, seed processing and seed storage.