By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 10 Aug: The ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation (ICAR IISWC) organised a series of online workshops on new and extended research projects addressing various aspects of Soil and Water Conservation (SWC), Natural Resource Management (NRM) and conservative agriculture production during July-August. Dr M Madhu, Director, ICAR IISWC, chaired the deliberations and called for approaching the problems of SWC, Resource Conservation and provision of livelihood and food security options systematically for the benefit of larger areas, States or Agro-Ecological Regions (AER) of the country. Various thematic areas on appraisal of soil/water erosion, Resource Conservation Technologies (RCT) for arable and non-arable lands, watershed hydrology, problems of mass erosion, Integrated Watershed Management (IWM) and Human Resource Development were the subjects of the projects dealt with in the workshops. The workshop organised on 9 August discussed about 13 research projects and different topical interests addressing the conservation and production needs of various AERs of the country. Dr Muruganandam, Principal Scientist and OIC (PME Cell), ICAR IISWC, briefed on the projects being prioritised based on needs, opportunities and potentials for the systematic research and development in line with the mandate of the Institute. He briefed on the recommendations and wayforward that emerged during the workshops. The observations and recommendations of the External Evaluator, Dr Rajiv Singh, Head of Centre, Kota (Retd) were also discussed in the workshop. The workshop held earlier on 7 August discussed springshed delineation and rejuvenation. Dr UK Maurya, Principal Scientist, ICAR National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (NBSS&LUP), Nagpur, Dr Ambrish Kumar, Dean, Agriculture College, Dr Ranendra Prasad Central Agriculture University, Pusa, Bihar, Dr Santosh K Rai, ScientistE, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), Dehradun, and Dr Charan Singh, Head of Division, Plant Science, ICARIISWC led the deliberations on the subject. Dharm Singh, DFO, Tehri explained the field project on spring rejuvenation executed by his department in Mussoorie hills. The workshops are organised as part of the discussions held by the Institute Research Committee (IRC) from 17 to 23 July 2021 on 100 research projects being executed across the country. Dr PR Ojasvi, Dr NK Sharma, Dr Charan Singh and Dr DV Singh, Heads of Division, and Heads of Centre, Theme Leaders, Principal Investigators, and about 70 scientists of the Institute participated. The workshops were organised by Dr Muruganandam and his team comprising Dr Sadikul Islam, Dr Sangeeta N Sharma, Dr Matish Chandra, Meenakshi Pant and Ankita, PME Cell of the Institute, in collaboration with Er SS Srimali and Er Amit Chauhan and their team.