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Karnataka
'Set up task force on plant physiology'
By Our Special Correspondent
DHARWAD, DEC. 6. Dr. N.P.Saxena, consultant scientist, ICRISAT, Hyderabad, has reiterated the need for establishing a national task force on plant physiology under ICAR with a view to guiding plant physiology research for the development of agriculture.
Delivering the keynote address at the three-day seminar on ``Role of plant physiology for sustaining quality and quantity of food production in relation to environment'' here on Wednesday, he said physiologists should prove that physiological research had contributed a lot for the development of agriculture in the past decade.
He said the physiologists need not become biotechnologists but could play a vital role in the development of agriculture. He urged them to work in teams for greater success.
Dr. Saxena said research in physiology should help tackle problems faced in food and fodder production. Developing technology for the growth of agriculture was the responsibility of the scientists and its adoption depended on its acceptance by farmers. Profitability was the driving force in adoption of technology by farmers as it had been proved in the Sixties. Cereal food production could be increased by adopting modern farming methods and high yielding varieties, he added.
Inaugurating the seminar, the Agriculture Minister, Mr. T.B.Jayachandra, urged the scientists to accept the challenges in the agriculture sector and help find solutions to them.
Dr. S.A.Patil, Vice-Chancellor, presided over the function. Dr. S.Lingappa welcomed the gathering. Dr. M.B.Chetty, Professor and Head of the Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, proposed a vote of thanks.
The seminar is being organised by the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, and the Indian Society for Plant Physiology. As many as 300 delegates from various universities and research institutions are participating in the seminar.
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