Two days National Group Meet of All India Co-ordained Research Project on Forage Crops & Utilization was organized by SKUAST-K in collaboration with ICAR at Nund Reshi Convention Centre of the University today on 16th of May, 2016.The meeting was inaugurated by Prof. Nazeer Ahmed, Vice-Chancellor who was the Chief Guest on the occasion. Dr. J.S.Chauhan and Dr. J.S.Solanki, ADG’s of ICAR were the Guests of Honour. The audience included around 120 delegates from different SAUs & Centres, Officers/HoDs/Scientists of University, Heads of Line Departments, Progressive farmers and other stakeholders. A total of ten publications including the Annual Report (Kharif 2015) of AICRP-FC and a book on Oats were released on the occasion.
Dr. M.Y.Ghani, Associate Director Research presented welcome address. Dr. A.K.Roy, Project Coordinator, AICRP-FC presented the review of the project work. Dr. Gul Zafar presented the vote of thanks. Scientists are expected to deliberate upon various issues related to fodder development/ production and technology generation in 2 days National Group Meeting.Vice Chancellor speaking on the occasion informed that livestock production and agriculture are complementary to each other and both are crucial for overall food security and 65-70 per cent of the population is dependent on agriculture for their livelihood and contribute 14.10 % to GDP while Livestock contributes 4% to national GDP and is a source of employment and livelihood for most of the population in rural areas.
Vice Chancellor advocated that future plans should focus on survey studies for bench mark status of pastures, grazing lands and other fodder resources, studies on distribution of Pasture flora, their ecological status, reseeding, grassland management, weed control, propagation and introduction of HY varieties, regeneration of degraded range and forest land, create grass cover for grazing during spring and autumn to provide quality rich hay during critical periods, rotational/deferred grazing. He emphasized the scientists to work on genetic improvement which is an important component in stablizing fodder production in the state. He thanked all participants who have come from different part of the country to attend this meeting and complimented the organizers for arranging this event. (CNS)