PROFESSOR AND Member, National Commission of Farmers, RB Singh said that science and genomics should determine the future of agriculture.
He was delivering his presidential address at the Scientific Convention Centre on the occasion of the CSIR Foundation Day function, here on Tuesday. All the CSIR laboratories, CDRI, ITRC, CIMAP and NBRI celebrated the occasion on a common platform.
He rued that investments in agriculture were inadequate considering that 60 per cent population was dependant on agriculture. He asserted that prime land should not be given away for industrial purposes but saved for agricultural activities.
Singh said that those farmers whose land had been taken should be properly rehabilitated and added that protecting farmers was akin to securing the nation.
He reiterated that even Sonia Gandhi had couple of days back propagated the need to give a fillip to the agriculture sector for the development of the country.
Distinguished biotechnologist from Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore and professor M Vijayan, speaking on ‘Structure determination of microbacterial proteins and its possible implications for combating tuberculosis’, said that genome of micobacterium tuberculosis was made up of about 4000 genes coding for nearly as many proteins. He said that research was going on to understand the TB pathogens for combating the disease on a long-term basis. “These investigations may provide leads for new drugs to fight the disease,” he added.
Director (NBRI), Rakesh Tuli elaborated works and achievements of all four labs and informed that around 450 scientists were working together on many projects. He said, “Some of these are finding newer scientific herbal preparations for global positioning, bioactive preparations besides drug development and gene discovery of Ashwagandha.”
{{/usCountry}}Director (NBRI), Rakesh Tuli elaborated works and achievements of all four labs and informed that around 450 scientists were working together on many projects. He said, “Some of these are finding newer scientific herbal preparations for global positioning, bioactive preparations besides drug development and gene discovery of Ashwagandha.”
{{/usCountry}}CIMAP also organised a function at the institute. Delivering the CSIR Day lecture, Dr Prabuddha Ganguli pointed out that Intellectual Property Rights had begun to leave an impact on knowledge space with its ethical and legalized access.
Emami Group of Kolkata signed an agreement for the cultivation of menthol mint in West Bengal, Orissa and UP using CIMAP’s improved technologies and plant varieties.