Gangtok,August14 : Padma Vibhusan, Prof. M S Swaminathan, a living legend, visited ICAR, Sikkim Centre on 13th August. He was welcomed by Joint Director DR. H. Rahman who also briefed the distinguished visitor on the various activities undertaken by the institute.
Prof. Swaminathan in his address recalled his memories of how he established ICAR for NEH Region to cater to the needs of tribal farmers by conserving the fragile natural resources of this region.
He said, the region is known as a ‘Paradise for Bio-diversity’ and Cultural Diversity, which need to be conserved for future generations. He emphasized the need of ‘Evergreen Revolution’ in place of green revolution, because it will be the only option to make the agricultural economy sustainable. The ‘Evergreen Revolution’ is based on the principle of ‘Eco-technology’, which can be achieved with the amalgamation of ecology with feasible technologies, he added.
He stated that, agriculture should be based on 4 C’s i.e., Conservation, Cultivation, Consumption and Commercialization.
He said “The cultivation of crops should be based on the conservation of natural resources and commercialization should be promoted when the quality food is made available to the poor.
He congratulated ICAR for coming up with a cost-effective water harvesting structure, ‘JALKUND’, to conserve water for use in agriculture during lean period.
He said that agriculture needs to be “Pro-nature, Pro-poor and Pro-women”, as sustainability in production may only be achieved through conservation and feminization of agriculture.
Dr. R K Avasthe, Principal Scientist, expressed heartfelt gratitude to Prof. M S Swaminathan for inspiring and blessing the ICAR staff. (Agencies)
