The new Director General of Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) HS Gupta along with International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre CIMMYT’s Regional Representative Director of Research for South Asia Dr. Etienne Duveiller called on Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal late last evening at his residence.
Disclosing this here today a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s office said that during the meeting Mr. Gupta apprised the Chief Minister about progress of the prestigious Centre of ‘Borlaug Institute for South Asia’ (BISA) that was being established in the state at Ludhiana under the auspices of Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT). The Master Plan for BISA’s Ludhiana had been finalized and Construction work would be started soon, informed Mr. Gupta.
The Director General who had recently taken the charge also mentioned that considering the strong desire and concern of Mr. Badal to improve the financial condition of state’s agriculture sector hence that of the beleaguered farmers, who had been plummeting financially day by day because of non- remunerative price of their produce, the BISA had decided to setup their headquarter at Ludhiana after the entire construction work would be completed. Expressing his gratitude to the Chief Minister for all the help and Cooperation from the state government side, he said that the a 7-member Coordinate Committee had been established for the smooth functioning of the Institute.
He said that they had also chalked out a long range implication programme for the state and presently initiated the research work at various levels with the help of PAU Ludhiana to develop new verity crops of better yield with less consumption of water besides preserving soil health by enhancing the Nitrogen contents in it. The Executive Committee of BISA would also visit Punjab on August 30, added Mr. Gupta.
Expressing satisfaction over the progress, Mr. Badal asked Director General to make each unit functional simultaneously as its Infrastructure being raised instead of waiting the constructional of entire Institution and then made it functional. Mr. Badal also hoped that this Institute would prove to be a mile stone to herald the second green revolution by encouraging the value added crops like Maize, Basmati and Oil seeds ultimately helping our farmers to come out of the rut of wheat-paddy cycle.Prominent amongst those who were present on the occasion included Financial Commissioner Development Mr. Suresh Kumar, Principal Secretaries to the Chief Minister Mr. SK Sandhu, Special Principal Secretaries to the Chief Minister Mr. K.J.S. Cheema and Gaggandip Singh Brar, besides Chief Soil Conservator Dr. BS Sidhu and Sr. Research Engineer BISA Dr. Harminder Singh Sidhu.