Posted On: Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Expert Consultation On Endophytes: Status And Prospect In Agriculture

An Expert Consultation on “Endophytes: Status and Prospects in Agriculture” was organized by the ICAR-National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Microorganisms, Mau on December 23, 2014 to contemplate with the issues related to upcoming area of endophyte research. Endophytes, a diverse group of microorganisms, appear to be important for the wellness of crop plants and live within the plant. These diverse microorganisms appear to be important for the practices to achieve ecofriendly sustainable agriculture. The exploration of newer microorganisms will help in understanding our national heritage of endophytic microorganisms, which have not been understood and conserved so far.

Dr. P.K. Chakrabarty, Assistant Director General (PP), ICAR, Dr. C. Manoharachary, Chairman RAC, Dr. AK Saxena (Head, Div of Microbiology, IARI), Dr. KVBR Tilak, Former QRT Chairman, Dr. SS Dudeja, Member RAC, Dr. DJ Bagyaraj, Ex-RAC Chairman, Dr. SK Singh (ARI, Pune), Dr. Mahveer Sharma, Dr. Anil K. Sharma, Dr. S.P. Tiwari attended the meeting. A skype based interactive session was also organised where Dr. DLN Rao (IISS, Bhopal), Dr. T.P. Rajendran (NIBSM, Raipur), Dr. Pious Thomas (IIHR, Bengaluru) and Dr. KK Pal (DGR Junagarh) participated and presented their view.

The programme was inaugurated by ADG (PP), Dr. P.K. Chakrabarty. Dr. S. Rajendra Prasad, PD, DSR was Guest of Honour. Dr. Arun Kumar Sharma, Director, NBAIM welcomed the guests and briefed about the objectives of the expert consultation. In the concluding session chaired by Dr. Arun K. Sharma, the future road map was prepared.