PAU 3-day national conference on climate smart agriculture begins 

Ludhiana: A three-day Virtual National Conference on “Strategic Reorientation for Climate Smart Agriculture” (V-AGMET 2021) began at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) today. The conference has been organised by the Department of Climate Change and Agricultural Meteorology, PAU, in which delegates and students from various agricultural universities and institutes of the country are participating.

In his presidential remarks, Dr N Kumar, Vice-Chancellor, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, said: “In Tamil Nadu, we have been experiencing unseasonal effect of rains, severe drought and cyclone effects.” Cloud bursting is another dangerous phenomenon, he observed, while urging for devising eco-friendly ways to tackle the problem of climate change.

Dr KS Thind, Dean, College of Agriculture, PAU, while delivering his address, expressed concern over long term effects of climate volatility on plants, animals and human beings. He said: “Last year, coronavirus came in March, and this year also, coronavirus is spreading fast in March. Climate is affecting human beings in many ways.” Alongwith climate smart agriculture; focus should be on variety smart, nutrient smart and water smart agriculture, he stressed.

Dr Prabhjyot Kaur, Head, Department of Climate Change and Agricultural Meteorology, PAU, said the flora and fauna are getting affected due to climate change. There is a need for rethinking and reorientation, she emphasized, while presenting an overview of the conference. The conference will see discussions on climate smart practices for agri-sustainability, strategies for management of aberrant weather stresses in crops and livestock, recent advances in science based assessment of climate change and impacts, and development and validation of Decision Support Systems for management of insect-pests and diseases, she informed.

Dr Vyas Pandey, President, Association of Agrometeorologists (AAM), Anand, Gujarat, said the Association was formed in 1999 and is having 1,800 life members spread across the globe. Its main activity is organizing seminars and bringing out Journal of Agrometeorology, he added.

In her welcome remarks, Dr PK Kingra, Professor of Agrometeorology, disclosed that earth temperature has risen by a little more than 1°C. The three-day conference will witness deliberations on climate variations and extreme weather events, she added.

Dr KK Gill, Principal Agrometeorologist, proposed a vote of thanks.

Dr Sandeep Singh Sandhu, Principal Agronomist, conducted the programme.

On the occasion, late Dr SM Virmani from International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad; Dr M Sivakumar from World Meteorological Organization, Geneva; Dr Samsul Huda from Australia and Dr TN Balasubramanium from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore were felicitated as Honorary Fellow of AAM.

Two technical sessions on “Climate smart practices for agri-sustainability” were chaired by Dr AM Sheikh, Former Vice-Chancellor, Anand Agricultural University, Anand, Gujarat (oral session) and Dr JD Jadhav, Vice-President, AAM, Pune (poster session). Two technical sessions on “Strategies for management of aberrant weather stresses in crops and livestock” were chaired by Dr SS Hundal, former Head, Department of Agricultural Meteorology, PAU (oral session) and Dr Rahul Nigam, Scientist D, Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad (poster session).