NIASM celebrated its 13th Foundation day today in the Sardar Vallabhai Patel Auditorium of the institute. Dr YS Nerkar, Ex Vice Chancellor, MPKV Rahuri was the Chief Guest and Dr SK Chaudhary , DDG, NRM, ICAR graced the occasion through online mode as the Guest of Honour. The special guest for the function was Mr. Pandurang Taware, known as Father of Agro-Tourism in India. The function was attended by the NIASM staff, guests, invited farmers and dignitaries physically following the COVID guidelines and also through online virtual mode. The foundation day celebrations began with lighting of the lamp, followed by ICAR song, NIASM song and welcome of the dignitaries and attendees by the Convener, Dr. DD Nangare. Dr Himanshu Pathak, Director of ICAR-NIASM, in his mesmerising presentation about the relevance of Abiotic Stress and its management in current times, highlighted the commitment of ICAR-NIASM towards its mandates. He also highlighted the achievements of NIASM during 2020 and also the research, academic and outreach activities of NIASM planned for next year. On the occasion, two Memorandum of Understanding (MoU’s) were signed and exchanged between ICAR-NIASM and Agriculture Tourism Development Trust (ATDC), Pune and Shivnagar Vidya Prasarak Mandal, Malegaon, Baramati for collaboration in area of Agro-Tourism and academics & research, respectively. The special guest Mr. Pandurang Taware, President of Agro-Tourism development organization, in his speech gave insights on the Agro-Tourism and its possibilities as part of Agro-tourism policy of State of Maharashtra. Ten progressive farmers from crop, livestock and fisheries sector were felicitated for their outstanding contribution and excellence in their area of work. Also several of the office scientific, technical and contract staff were felicitated by institute awards for their outstanding performance in year 2020. Three institute publications and one QR-NIASM app video were released by the dignitaries on the occasion. The gathering was also addressed by Dr SK Choudhary, DDG NRM- ICAR, Dr. AK Patra Director, ICAR-IISS, Bhopal through online mode. Dr YS Nerkar, Ex Vice Chancellor, MPKV Rahuri in his concluding remarks expressed his appreciation for the work being carried out at ICAR-NIASM. The foundation day programme concluded with the National Anthem.