PAU TO ORGANIZE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON \'PREPARING AGRICULTURE FOR CLIMATE CHANGE\' FROM FEBRUARY 6-8

LUDHIANA,

"Food security in both developed and developing countries is expected to be affected by climate change. The world, especially the southern hemisphere, could see a significant drop in agricultural productivity as a result of this," stated PAU Vice-Chancellor, Dr Manjit Singh Kang. He added that agricultural losses related to climate change are expected to hit the developing countries hard, as agriculture employs a substantial population and contributes to a great extent to economic growth and general development. Moreover, poverty in developing world is largely rural with a major proportion of the population dependent on agriculture, he said. The Green Revolution of the seventies, to a large extent, increased food grain productivity and thereby rural incomes. However, recent agricultural growth rates in countries like India are far below the growth rates of other economic sectors. Thus unlike in developed countries, the adverse impact of climate change on agriculture will disproportionately affect the poor, observed Dr Kang. To distill out the consensus global view on how the climate-resilient agricultural technologies would mitigate the effects of climate change, a three-day International Conference on 'Preparing Agriculture for Climate Change,' is being organized from February 6-8 at PAU , wherein leading farm scientists and climatologists hailing from different parts of the globe will participate. The conference will lay a focus on agriculture: abettor and sufferer, mitigation strategies – policy and management interventions, adaptation strategies: genetic options/interventions, and climate change and biodiversity: extinction and new emergence, informed Dr Kang, President of the Conference.

Giving the contours, Dr Allah Rang, Chairman of the Local Organization Committee, said that the event is being held under the aegis of Crop Improvement Society of India (CISI), whose headquarters are located at PAU. The conference will comprise invited plenary and symposium presentations and conclude with a panel discussion on \'Directed adaptation to climate change and role of long-term forecasting models\'. There will be symposium lectures by experts on the first two days, he said. A session will be devoted to contributory posters from scientists and bright young and students.

The technical sessions will be chaired by eminent subject experts such as Dr M.S. Swaminathan, an eminent agricultural expert-cum- Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), Dr Prem C. Bindraban, International Soil Reference & Information Centre, Wagningen University and Research Centre, The Netherlands, Dr. Daniel Hillel, Columbia University, Center for Climate Systems Research, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, USA and Prof. Deepak Pental, former Vice-Chancellor ,Delhi University , New Delhi. Dr M.S. Kang, Vice - Chancellor, PAU, will wrap up the proceedings, said Dr Rang.

The symposium speakers are Dr William D. Dar, Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), near Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh and Dr Pramod Agarwal, a regional facilitator of the CGIAR research program on climate change, agriculture and food security. The plenary speakers include Dr Daniel Hillel (USA), Dr Dinesh K Benbi (PAU), Dr Prem C. Bindraban ( The Netherlands), Dr Tej Partap (Srinagar), Dr Robert Norton (Australia), Nicholas Molyneux (Timor Leste), Dr Ramesh Chand (New Delhi), Dr Sanjay Kumar (Palampur), Dr Manjit S Kang ( PAU), Dr Jiwan S. Palta (USA), Dr Bikram S Gill, University (USA), Dr Toby Hodgkin (Italy), Dr Martin Barbetti (Australia), Dr Hari C. Sharma (International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics), and Dr Lawrence Gusta (Canada).
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