Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture recently visited Nagpur. During the visit, the committee members interacted with invited farmers, representatives of farmers producer companies/NGOs, representatives of State Agriculture Departments and officials of crop insurance companies involved in implementation of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).

 

P C Gaddigoudar, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture; Navaneet Rana, MP, interacting with the officials during visit to CICR. 

 

The committee members also visited three city-based ICAR institutes -- Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR), National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (NBSS&LUP), and Central Citrus Research Institute (CCRI). Dr V N Waghmare, Director, ICAR-CICR, was the Liaison Officer. CICR served as the nodal institute for co-ordinating the visit of the Standing Committee members.

 

The Parliamentary Standing Committee comprised 11 Members of Parliament from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha along with five officials from Secretariat. Parvatagouda Chandanagauda Gaddigoudar, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) from Karnataka, was the Chairman. The other members included Afzal Ansari, A Ganeshamurthi, Kanakmal Katara, Bhagwanth Khuba, Devji Patel, Shardaben Anilbhai Patel, Navneet Ravi Rana, Ram Kripal Yadav, Kailash Soni, and Chhaya Verma.

 

Dr V N Waghmare and staff welcomed the committee members during visit to ICAR-CICR. The team had a detailed discussion on major cotton research achievements and various farmer outreach activities. Dr R K Singh, Assistant Director General (CC), ICAR, New Delhi; Dr W S Dhillon, Assistant Director General (Horticulture); and Dr M S Ladaniya, Director, ICAR-CCRI were present prominently during the interactive meet.

 

An exhibition was also arranged at CICR showcasing the technologies developed by the institute for cotton farmers. The exhibits covered superior landmark cotton varieties (Bt/non-Bt and colour cotton) released from the institute, major management strategies for insect pests specially Pink Bollworm, improved agronomic practices and various outreach extension activities. A plantation programme was also arranged at the institute premises in which each member planted a sapling in their name. The Standing Committee appreciated the efforts put in by the staff of the Institute.

 

Dr M V Venugopalan, Dr D Blaise, Dr Nandini Narkhedkar, Dr S M Wasnik, Dr Suman Bala Singh, Dr Vishlesh Nagrare, Dr G Balasubramani, and Dr Shailesh Gawande co-ordinated the visit of the dignitaries.