Srinagar: A five-day workshop on ‘Current Statistical Learning and Techniques in Agricultural Sciences’ started on Thursday here. A simple but impressive inaugural function was organized by the Division of Agricultural Economics and Statistics, at the Knowledge Management Centre of the Faculty of Agriculture, SKUAST-Kashmir, Wadura campus.
The objective of the workshop is to acquaint the participant research scholars with the latest statistical trends and techniques, data sciences, and analytics, pertaining to agricultural and allied sciences.
In the beginning of the inaugural event, Prof. Tariq A. Raja, Head of the Division, and also the Organizing Director of the Workshop, elaborated the importance of the workshop. He stressed the participants to inculcate interest in the subjects like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Internet of Things, Big Data Analytics, Data Mining, Optimization techniques, etc.
The inaugural event was graced by the presence of Prof. Rajinder Prasad, Director, Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute, New Delhi, who is an authority on the subject. He gave insightful and thought provoking online lecture on the topic, and stressed the importance of statistics and data sciences in agricultural research. He also interacted with the scientists and research scholars and answered their queries through virtual mode.
Various Heads of the Divisions, including Prof. Anwar Ali, Prof. M. A. Mantoo, Prof. AsifShikari, National Agricultural Higher Education Faculty Co-ordinator Prof. Khursheed A. Dar, alongwith other faculty members and students attended the event.
Special lectures will be delivered during the workshop by eminent experts from different reputed institutions of the country, especially Prof. Med Ram Verma from IVRI, Izzatnagar, Prof. Chander Shekhar from International Institute of Population Studies, Prof. AnjumAra from Mumbai, Dr. Neha Gupta from Amity Business School, Dr. Banti Kumar from CSKHPKV, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, Dr. Faizan Ahmad from VIT-AP University, through virtual mode, and also from other faculties of the University.
The proceedings of the inaugural event were conducted by Dr. Faheem Wani, Asst. Prof. and Organizing Secretary of the workshop. Dr. Showkat Maqbool, Dr. Sajad A. Saraf, Associate Professors, and Mr. Showkat Sidiquee, and Dr. Jahangir Ali, also spoke on the occasion.
The event ended with formal vote of thanks presented by Dr. Sajad A. Saraf, Associate Professor. He thanked the Vice Chancellor, Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, for their support and encouragement, and Prof. Azmat Aalam Khan Coordinator of the NAHEP, for sanctioning and financing the workshop.

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