AT PAU: President Pranab Mukherjee to inaugurate international conference

Ludhiana, November 25, 2012:The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) is all set to host the three-day International Conference on “Sustainable Agriculture for Food and Livelihood Security,” from November 27- 29 in the Pal Auditorium.

The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee will inaugurate the conference on November 27, being organised as a part of Golden Jubilee Celebrations of PAU. The Governor of Punjab and Chancellor of the University, Shivraj V. Patil will be the Guest of Honour while the Chief Minister of Punjab, Prakash Singh Badal will preside over the conference.

Nearly 1,100 delegates from across the country and globe will participate in the conference.  

During the inaugural session, eminent agricultural stalwarts such as Dr R.A. Zeigher, Director General, International Rice Research Institute, Philippines; Dr Thomas Lumpkin, Director General, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), Mexico; and Dr S. Ayyappan, Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research; will share their views. Dr R.S. Paroda, former Director General of ICAR, will also express his views on this occasion.

Besides discussing options to deal with the challenges to stimulate collaborative research among institutions, the conference aims at sharing latest advances, knowledge and technologies regarding agricultural production. The conference will focus on the theme areas including breeding crops for food security and climate resilience; natural resource conservation: a key to sustainable agriculture; crop protection; food processing and nutritional security; advances in veterinary and animal sciences for sustainable livestock development; and joining hands for economic development. There will be invited plenary lectures, poster and oral presentations, and panel discussion also.

The conference will see the participation of 14 renowned farm scientists like Dr Gurdev Singh Khush, Dr D.J. MacKill, Dr Rattan Lal, Dr Kulwinder Gill, Dr Parwinder Grewal, Dr R. Pal Singh and Dr M. Erbaugh from USA; Dr Hans-Peter Piepho from Germany; Dr Baljit S. Gill from Canada; Dr Zora Singh Khangura from Australia; and Dr Richard Fallon and Dr Harjinder Singh from New Zealand.  Besides, delegates from ICAR institutes and State Agricultural Universities will participate in this conference.