HIGH PROFILE ICAR TEAM VISIT PAU REVIEW MUSHROOM RESEARCH PROGRAMME

LUDHIANA, OCTOBER 25:-----



The Quinqennial Review Team (QRT) of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) visited Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) to review the ongoing mushroom research programme carried out at the Ludhiana Center of All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP), for the period 2005-10. The team was led by Prof. A K Bakshi, Vice-Chancellor, SVPU&T, Modipuram, UP, while the other members included, Dr R N Verma, ex-Director NRCM, Solan (HP), Dr S Edison, ex-Director, CTCIR, Trivandrum ( Kerala ), Dr R P Singh, Emeritus Scientist, GBPUA&T, Pantnagar (UK), Dr A K Patra, Retd Prof, OUANT, Bhubaneshwar, (Orissa) and Dr B Vijay, Principal Scientist, DMR, Solan (HP).



The QRT members interacted with Dr. R S Sidhu, Dean, College of Basic Sciences and Humanities (COBSH), Dr M S Gill, Director of Extension Education, Dr S S Gosal, Additional Director of Research (Agri) and discussed at length the agenda and expectation of ICAR from Ludhiana centre.



Earlier, Dr P K Khanna, Coordinator Research (Basic Sciences) apprised the visiting team about the current status of mushroom production in the state and an overview of the R&D work on mushrooms being carried out at PAU. The team members reviewed the research progress of the Center and discussed mushroom research from different angles. Later, the team members were made to visit to various facilities developed during the period under report at the Mushroom Research Center, PAU that included spawn and compost production unit, bulk pasteurization chamber, composting yard, other infrastructure such as conference room, lecture rooms, experiential learning unit, controlled temperature walk-in cropping chambers, etc.



The team members interacted with postgraduate students working on mushrooms and desired this trained work force would be an asset for future expansion of mushroom R& D. The visiting team appreciated the work carried out at PAU and expressed that the grant of Rs 50 lacs received from National Horticulture Mission (NHM) would further strengthen facilities and thereby giving an impetus to mushroom production. The team members were also shown around the facilities developed in the molecular biology lab of COBSH and School of Agricultural Biotechnology at PAU.



A wrap up meeting was held in which Dr. R.K.Mahey, Director of Research, Dr. R.S.Sidhu, Dean COBSH, Dr. Jagtar Singh Dhiman, Additional Director of Communication, Dr. S.S.Gosal, Additional Director of Research, Dr. P.K.Khanna, Coordinator Research (Basic Sciences), Dr. (Mrs.) Maninder Arora, Head, Department of Microbiology, and scientists working on mushrooms took part. Dr. Bakshi, thanked the PAU for the support and cooperation made available to the review team. Dr. Verma said that the PAU technology has been well received by the growers who have contributed significantly to the overall mushroom production scenario. The team had earlier visited the mushroom farms of some growers.
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