The ICAR–National Institute of Abiotic Stress Management (NIASM), Baramati in collaboration with the Indian Society for Plant Physiology and Society for Agricultural Research on Abiotic Stresses, organized a webinar on “Translating Physiology into Techniques for Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crop” on October 9, 2020.  The aim of the webinar was to explore status, constraints and opportunities in this area of research for young research scholars and scientists.

Dr. Himanshu Pathak, Director, ICAR-NIASM, highlighted the importance of plant physiology research and opined that a lot of information had been generated on the mechanism of abiotic stress tolerance. He suggested that present knowledge can be translated into screening techniques and other tools for managing the stress in crop plant.

The introductory remarks by Director was followed by a brief overview about the webinars and the invited speakers by Dr. Jagadish Rane, I/C Head SDSM, ICAR-NIASM and Secretary, Society for Agricultural Research on Abiotic Stresses, India. The webinar included expert’s lectures, views and discussions on various aspects of Plant Physiology and breeding traits. Dr. Bettina Berger, Scientific Director, The Plant Accelerator, Australia, outlined the High-throughput 3D analysis of barley shoots for revealing the novel QTL involved in leaf growth under salt. Dr P. K Gupta, Emeritus Professor, CCS University, Meerut, outlined the genetics of some physiological traits for tolerance against drought and heat in wheat.  Dr Arvind Kumar, Director, IRRI-India, presented the integration of physiological, breeding and genomics aspects to tackle abiotic stresses in important crops like rice. Dr M Sheshshayee, Professor, UAS Bangalore, explained perspectives and opportunities for translating physiology for crop improvement.

The webinar provided an opportunity to almost 500 participants to listen to the experts from different disciplines from India and abroad which included scientists, entrepreneurs and students. Dr. Gurumurthy S as Organizing Secretary and Dr Mahesh Kumar as the Convenor, played a key role in organizing this event.