40th Foundation Day of ICAR-NBPGR Celebrated

The 40th Foundation Day of ICAR-NBPGR was celebrated on 1st August, 2016. The programme started with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp followed by the invocation song by the students of PG School, IARI. Dr. S. C. Dubey, Director (Acting) highlighted the achievements of the Bureau and the future targets in his welcome address.

On this occasion, Dr. J. S. Sandhu, Deputy Director General (Crop Science), ICAR and Chief Guest addressed the gathering and appreciated the progress made by ICAR-NBPGR during the year and highlighted the great strides made by Bureau over the past forty years in PGR Management. He mentioned that NBPGR plays a significant role in the overall management of PGR activities and these activities being undertaken in a partnership-mode with other ICAR institutes and State Agricultural Universities. He especially emphasized on the role of quarantine in preventing the entry and spread of new diseases. National Permafrost Facility being created as a result of joint initiative of ICAR and DRDO at Leh, Ladakh would be useful for conservation of safety duplicates at a very low-cost. He also appreciated the genetic diversity analysis being undertaken using morphological and molecular markers in certain crops. The PGR Portal hosted on ICAR-NBPGR website, which is a gateway to information on conserved PGR was a special mention.

Dr. J.S. Chauhan, Assistant Director General (Seed), ICAR was the Guest of Honour   congratulated the staff of ICAR-NBPGR, advised for introspection on the occasion. He emphasized on enhancing national networking on acquisition, conservation, evaluation and utilization, strengthening PGR database and monitoring national and international regulations in PGR policy to ensure efficient management of PGR. Dr P.N. Mathur, Former Regional Coordinator, Central and South Asia, Bioversity International was also the Guest of Honour. He suggested Bureau to take a leadership role in the South Asian region and offer its expertise to the developing countries of Asia and Africa. The dignitaries distributed awards and certificates to the staff for their significant contributions during the year. Officers from the council, Directors from other ICAR institutes and retired staff members of ICAR-NBPGR also attended the function. Dr. Ashok Kumar, Principal Scientist, ICAR-NBPGR proposed the Vote of Thanks.