Pool efforts to help increase crop yield: Pawar to scientists

The brainstorming session was spread over two days where the minister sat through and interacted. He underlined the food security challenges and emphasised the need to identify certain areas of immediate importance even as the scientific community continued with long-term research areas, said one of the participants.

Pawars emphasis was on breaking the silos of research where institute of one type is busy in its own field without reaching out to the other institute researching in other field that can help raise the productivity of crops, said an official present at the session.

Another participant said Pawar underlined the need to channelise research in a time-bound manner to meet the immediate challenges through inter-institution and inter-disciplinary collaboration among the countrys best agricultural scientists.

The focus of the session,which was also attended by Agriculture Secretary P K Basu,among others,was on crops like wheat,rice,pulses and horticulture crops.

While officials of the Agriculture Ministry listed the challenges like yellow rust in wheat,rice blast,pot-borer pests in pulses and blight on pomegranate,the scientists explained how their research could be used for finding solution to these problems.

One scientists described in detail his attempt to widen the gene pool of wheat by tapping into the genes from wild races of the crop.

Pawar is likely to meet Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia soon to provide the scientists feedback that need to be incorporated in the 12th Plan period.