Dr. T. Mohapatra, Secretary, Department of Agriculture Research and Education, and Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research visited ICAR-National Institute of Abiotic Stress Management, Malegaon, Baramati on 23 October 2016. On this occasion Dr. Narendra Pratap Singh, Director, ICAR-National Institute of Abiotic Stress Management welcomed Dr. T. Mohapatra. The Plant Phenomics facility, Meteorological Observatory and the Nira Guest House at NIASM were inaugurated by Dr. T. Mohapatra. Technical folders “ NIASM-Plant Phenomics”, “An overview of ICAR-NIASM Agrometeorological Observatory and Present Climatic Trend at Baramati” and  Breeding and seed production technology of stinging catfish Heteropneustes fossilis (Shingi) were also released on this occasion. In his address to the Scientist of NIASM, Dr. Mohapatra emphasized on the need of basic and strategic research on stress tolerance mechanisms in resilient crop plants, livestock and fisheries, screening abiotic stress tolerant genotypes in crops livestock and fisheries, setting up facility for animal and fishery research, identification of stress responses through transcriptomic studies, gene function studies through virus induced gene silencing, selection of horticulture crop such as drought tolerant Dragon fruit, identification of microbes imparting drought tolerance and use of new science. He opined that many investigations on abiotic stress tolerance can be carried out without duplicating the research work being conducted at other research institutes. He cautioned that not only the publications but also the impact of research be kept in mind while initiating the research projects. Finally, he advised Scientists that Duty and Sacrifice are the ways to achieve excellence in scientific pursuits.

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