Srinagar: To commemorate ‘World Food Day 2020’, SKUAST-K held a daylong national seminar to address the constraints faced in rice and maize cultivation for enhancing food security in Jammu and Kashmir.
The online seminar, ‘Grow, Nourish, Sustain Together’, was organised by the university’s Faculty of Agriculture, Wadura in collaboration with World Bank-ICAR funded National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP). Nationally renowned experts on rice and maize cultivation from various premier agricultural institutes of the country addressed the seminar in which about 100 students from across the country, besides the scholars and scientists of the university, participated.
Director ICAR-IIMR, Ludhiana, Dr Sujay Rakshit emphasized on the importance of quality protein maize for alleviating malnutrition from socially and economically underprivileged people. While elaborating on the role that maize crop can play in enhancing the rural economy of Jammu and Kashmir, he suggested that the farmers in the UT should cultivate speciality corns like sweet corn, popcorn and baby corn varieties to boost their economy. Director ICAR-IARI, New Delhi, Dr AK Singh in his lecture on ‘biofortification for nutritional security stressed on the use of biofortified rice to alleviate hunger and malnutrition from the society.
Vice-Chancellor RLBCAU, Jhansi, Dr Arvind Kumar, who was the chief guest at the occasion, spoke on the importance of rice as an inexpensive staple for the nutrition of large chunk of the population.
Director Planning and Monitoring & PI, NAHEP SKUAST-K, Prof Nazir Ahmad Ganai said that during the recent global economic crisis due to COVID19, only agriculture has shown stability and sustainability.
Dean Faculty of Agriculture, Prof AH Hakeem applauded the role of farmers in enhancing food security.
Prof Raihana Habib Kanth, Faculty Coordinator NAHEP and Dr Zahoor A Dar, co-organising secretary, coordinated the seminar.
An online quiz on the World Food Day theme, in which 110 students participated, was coordinated by Dr Naveed Hamid and Mohammad Salim Mir.
Undergraduate students of FoA, Wadura, Umar Mukhtar and Rakhshandah Ather also delivered their talks on the theme of the seminar on this occasion.

KR Desk