Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, DAV University, Jalandhar organized an international conference on ‘Sustainable Agriculture: Challenges and Opportunities’. Broad theme areas of the conference included crop production, crop protection and natural resource management for sustainable agriculture. Conference was inaugurated by recitation of Gaytri Mantra.
Vice-Chancellor, DAV University, Dr. Jasbir Rishi conveyed blessings of Padma Shri Dr. Punam Suri ji, President, DAV College Managing Committee and Chancellor, DAV University to the organizers and participants. She expressed her gratitude for his constant guidance and support. She also congratulated the co-ordinator of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and her team for organizing the conference.
Dr. K N Kaul, Registrar, DAV University suggested to utilize the knowledge gained through the deliberations of the conference to resolve the challenges in sustainable agriculture.
Dean Academics, DAV University, Dr. R K Seth expressed concern over ever increasing pressure on natural resources. He highlighted that the sustainable farming practices becomes even more significant in a country like India.
Earlier, Dr. Anju Pathania, coordinator of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, gave the welcome address. The keynote speaker Dr. S. K. Sharma, Former Vice Chancellor, CSK HPKV, Palampur, Former Director NBPGR, New Delhi gave an overview on major issues in sustainable agriculture and highlighted that though the food grain production has increased six times since our independence and we have witnessed green, white, blue and yellow revolutions but at the cost of over exploitation of our natural resources. He suggested biological, physical, social and economic sustainability as four pillars for sustainable agriculture. He further stressed on strong political will to take bold decisions to promote sustainable agriculture.
Dr. Girish Chander, Senior Scientist, International Crop Research Institute for Semi -Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, Hyderabad gave an overview of soil degradation in India and spoke on natural resource management with special reference to soil health management. He emphasized upon the need of state-of-the-art analytical facilities for efficient use of the resources.
Dr. Samson Okongo Mabwoga, School of Tourism and Natural Resources Management, Maasai Mara University, Narok, Kenya apprised the delegates about the contribution of agriculture which is about 35 % to the total GDP of Kenya. He highlighted the barriers of agricultural productivity in Kenya and explored the opportunities to increase agricultural productivity using digital technologies such as remote sensing, precision agriculture and their adoption by farmers of Kenya.
Dr. Daniel Neuhoff, Dept. of Agro- Ecology and Organic Farming, Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation, University of Bonn, Germany apprised the participants that in Germany ten percent of the agricultural land is managed organically with a growing trend due to political support and consumer demand. The main reasons for consuming organic products are environmental protection and personal health. He said that the organic farms produce has a higher process quality and suggested some approaches such as closing nutrient cycles and increasing BNF to address the low productivity issues in organic farming systems.
More than two hundred participants including academicians, scientists and research scholars from India and abroad participated in the conference, presented their work and held deliberations on sustainable agriculture.