Ludhiana, December 19, 2023 (Yes Punjab News)
More than 300 scientists from across India, Nepal, Mexico and Russia participated in the Annual Meeting of the Indian Society of Plant Pathologists (INSOPP) and the National Symposium on the “Plant Pathology: Sustainable Approaches for Food Security and Human Health,” organised by the Department of Plant Pathology, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi on December 8 and 9, 2023. Deliberations were held on biosafety, epidemiology, nanotechnology, future research gaps in technologies, artificial intelligence for plant disease diagnosis and plant disease management. Experts also delved upon legal issues relevant to government agencies in a scientist-industry-farmer interface session.
Dr TR Sharma, Deputy Director General (Crop Science), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, New Delhi, while inaugurating the symposium, urged the scientists to develop technologies that ensured food security in environmentally sustainable manner.
The President of the Society, Dr PK Chakrabarty, former ADG (Plant Protection and Biosafety), highlighted the need to prevent crop losses due to pests and diseases to meet the future demand of food.
The Secretary of INSOPP, Dr Jaspal Kaur from PAU and Organizing Secretary, Dr SS Vaish from BHU, traced the history of the Society and shared focus areas for the success of symposium.
Dr PS Sandhu, Head, Department of Plant Pathology, PAU, while proposing a vote of thanks, highlighted the strong connect between BHU, Varanasi and PAU, Ludhiana. He informed that the two day event had six technical sessions with four plenary lectures, seven lead lectures, 19 invited lectures, 40 oral and 78 poster presentations.
On the occasion, “Dr TS Thind Distinguished Plant Pathologist Award” was bestowed upon Dr Jayanta Tarafdar, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, West Bengal, for his valuable contribution to plant virology. Dr Pankhuri Singhal, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, was awarded with “Dr SS Kang Best Ph.D. Thesis Award” for her work on mosaic disease of mustard, while Ms Mohitpreet Kaur from PAU was conferred with “Dr SS Chahal Best Master’s Thesis Award” for her work on stripe and leaf rust resistance gene mining in European winter wheat. Oral presentation made by Dr Parminder Singh Tak from PAU was adjudged as the best.
Besides, the Society bestowed fellow distinctions upon six scientists, namely Dr R Sarada Jayalakshmi, Vice-Chancellor, Acharya NG Ranga (ANGR) Agricultural University, Vizianagaram; Dr Sree Lakshmi Bhattiprlou, Principal Scientist (Plant Pathology), ANGR Agricultural University, Lam, Guntur; Dr Pankaj Baiswar, Principal Scientist (Plant Pathology), ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam; and Dr PS Sandhu, Head, Department of Plant Pathology; Dr Vineet Kumar Sharma, Professor of Plant Pathology; and Dr Amarjit Singh, Principal Extension Scientist, PAU, for their scientific contributions to plant pathology.
Dr Satbir Singh Gosal, Vice-Chancellor, PAU and Dr AS Dhatt, Director of Research, lauded Dr Sandhu and his team for successfully organizing the symposium, and congratulated the award-winning scientists and students for bringing laurels to the university. The gathering was graced by eminent plant pathologists comprising Professor GS Dubey, Former Vice-Chancellor, Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi; Dr AN Mukhopadhyay, Former Vice-Chancellor, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat; and Professor C Manoharachary, Ex-Dean and Vice-Chancellor, Oriental University, Madhya Pradesh.
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