The Hindu : National : ICAR awards for 42 scientists, six farmers

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Saturday, Aug 19, 2006

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ICAR awards for 42 scientists, six farmers

Special Correspondent

Honoured for contributing to the growth of agriculture science and farm research

WINNERS ALL: Some of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research Award winners at the National Agricultural Science Centre, in New Delhi on Friday. — PHOTO: SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY

NEW DELHI: Minister of State for Food Akhilesh Prasad on Friday presented the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) awards to 42 scientists and their associates, six farmers and a media person for their contribution to the growth of agriculture science and to promote excellence in farm research.

In a rags-to-riches story, Vishwasrao Kachare, a farmer belonging to a family of landless labourers in Maharashtra, now owns 120 hectares of pomegranate orchards. Instead of resting on his laurels, Mr. Kachare, instead, shared his skills with other ryots from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. This helped boost the country's pomegranate exports to 1,000-1,500 tonnes per annum, an ICAR release said.

Another farmer, Suresh Waghdhare, demonstrated how to operate a sustainable farming system with low external inputs and available local resources.

The N.G. Ranga Farmer Award for Diversified Agriculture was jointly conferred on Vanita Gunjal from Maharashtra and S.K. Rabiul Haque from Paragana district of West Bengal for their contributions to the usage of hi-tech agriculture in vegetable, fruit and horticulture production. The Best Institution Award went to the G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar and the National Research Centre for Citrus, Nagpur.

The Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (CTCRI), Thiruvananthapuram and the Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and Training Institute (CSWCR&TI), Dehradun were also awarded for their outstanding performance during the year.

Two women scientists, Mandapaka Maheshwari and Gita Kulshrestha, were recognised for their research contributions.

The All-India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Potato by the Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla and an AICRP on Castor by the Directorate of Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad jointly won the Chaudhary Devi Lal Outstanding AICRP Award for creating standards of coordinated research.

Sixteen Jawaharlal Nehru Awards for outstanding Ph.D. theses were awarded of to scientists from the State Agricultural Universities, ICAR institutes and post-graduate students from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.

The Chaudhary Charan Singh Award for Excellence in Agricultural Journalism was given to R.S. Sharma, a free-lance producer, for his television programmes on research and contributions of ICAR institutes.

The Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed awards were jointly given to the ICAR Research Complex for North-Eastern Hill Region, Umiam, Meghalaya for the development of six integrated farming system models and to the National Research Centre on Yak, Dirang, Arunachal Pradesh for molecular genetics and Ovysynch protocol studies in yaks.

Seven teachers from various Agriculture Universities were honoured for their contribution to agronomy, plant pathology, agro-chemicals, fisheries, veterinary sciences and social sciences.

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