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National Dialogue on “Extension Services for Efficient Delivery of Horticultural Technologies: A Way Forward”

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ICAR-IIHR organized a National Dialogue on “Extension Services for Efficient Delivery of Horticultural Technologies: A Way Forward” from May 20-21, 2022. In the inaugural session of the two-day national dialogue, Dr. R. Venkattakumar, Principal Scientist and Head (I/c), Division of Social Sciences and Training and organizing secretary delivered the welcome address. Dr. V. V. Sadamate, Former Advisor (Agriculture), Planning Commission (now NITI Aayog) spoke about the context of the dialogue. Dr.B.N.S.Murthy, Director, ICAR-IIHR delivered the introductory remarks wherein he emphasized the need for dissemination of advanced horticultural production technologies through latest extension delivery services. Dr. P. Das, Former DDG (Agricultural Extension), ICAR, New Delhi and Dr. K. Narayana Gowda, President, International Society of Extension Education (INSEE), Nagpur, Former Vice-Chancellor, UAS, Bengaluru delivered special address. Dr. V. K. Pandey, ADG (Hort. Science-I) graced the programme through online mode and addressed the participants.  Dr. A. K. Singh, DDG (Horticulture), addressed the delegates and highlighted the importance of efficient extension services for promotion of horticultural technologies.

The first technical session – “Extension Programmes and Management: Horticultural Perspective” was chaired by Dr. K. Narayana Gowda, President, International Society of Extension Education (INSEE), Nagpur, Former Vice-Chancellor, UAS, Bengaluru and co-chaired by Dr. Prabhu Kumar, Former Director, ICAR - Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute. The lead speakers of the session were Dr.Prabhu Kumar, Former Director, ICAR - Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute, Bengaluru/ Ludhiana, Dr. Sreenath Dixit, Principal Scientist , Cluster Leader – ICRISAT Development Center, ICAR- ICRISAT, Hyderabad, Dr. E. Vadivel, Former DEE, Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, Coimbatore, Dr. N. K. Krishna Kumar, Former DDG (Horticulture Science), and Dr. Kirit Shelat, Executive Chair, National Council for Climate Change (NCCSD), Ahmadabad. The second technical session was on “Entrepreneurships, Partnerships and Startups in Horticulture sector and reorienting extension services” wherein Dr. Sudha Mysore, CEO, Agrinnovate India Limited, Dr. Dhanakumar V. G., Former Director, Indian Institute of Plantation Management (IIPM), Bangalore and Dr. Parashuram Patil, Consultant, APEDA presented their lead talk. Dr. P. Das, Former DDG (Agricultural Extension), ICAR, New Delhi and Dr. Dhanakumar V. G. Former Director, Indian Institute of Plantation Management (IIPM), Bangalore chaired and co-chaired the session, respectively.

The technical session-III was on “Horticultural Extension: Research Focus and Priorities” which was chaired by Dr. T. Janakiram, Vice Chancellor, Dr. YSR Horticultural University, Andhra Pradesh and Dr. V. V. Sadamate, Former Advisor (Agriculture), Planning Commission (now NITI Aayog) and Dr.M.R.Hegde, Former Head, Division of Extension and Training co-chaired the session. The lead speakers of the session were Dr. B. Balakrishna, Principal Scientist, Division of Social Sciences and Training, ICAR-IIHR, Dr. B. Srinivasulu, Director of Extension, Dr. YSR Horticultural University, Andhra Pradesh, Dr.Bharath S. Sontakki, Principal Scientist, Extension Systems Management Division, NAARM, Hyderabad, Dr R. N. Padaria, Head, Division of Agricultural Extension, IARI, New Delhi and Mr. G. Bhaskar, Assistant Director (IT),National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), Hyderabad.

On day 2, the technical session-IV was on “ICT in Horticulture: Advances and Applications in Horticulture Sector” which was chaired by Dr. D.L. Maheswar, Former VC-UHSB & BESTIU and co-chaired by Dr Sreenath Dixit, Principal Scientist, Cluster Leader–ICRISAT Development Center, ICAR-ICRISAT. The lead talk was given by Dr. Shaik N. Meera, Senior Technical Expert – Digital Agriculture, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Dr. B. N. S. Murthy, Director, ICAR-IIHR, Dr.V.K.J. Rao, Principal Scientist, Division of Social Sciences and Training, ICAR-IIHR and Dr.P.Balasubramanian, Director, Directorate of Open and Distance Learning, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore.

During Plenary Session, the selected delegates were felicitated for their contribution in the field of Horticultural Extension. Dr. V. V. Sadamate recommended the follow up actions. This session was chaired by Dr. B. N. S. Murthy, Director, ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru and co-chaired by Dr. M. J. Chandre Gowda, Principal Scientist, ICAR - ATARI, Bengaluru. Nearly 40 participants attended the dialogue offline and more than 100 officials attended the dialogue online on both the days.