Gangtok: The ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Sikkim Centre on Saturday organized an exposure visit for the students of Sikkim University. A team of four faculty members and seventeen students of Microbiology department of the University visited the ICAR.
Wlcoming the guests, Dr. H. Rahman, Joint Director, ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Sikkim Centre, upheld the significant role played by ICAR in the days when the country was facing acute food shortage. With the initiation of the Government of India in modernising agriculture and sincere effort made by scientists for the development of high yielding varieties of crops and animals generated national movement for food production.
He said that present food production has increasedto about 238 million tonnes from merely 50 millions in 1950s. Dr Rahman also mentioned that the productivity of almost all crops has reached a plateau, thus crop diversification and scientific technologies have to be adopted to maintain sustainability in food security. He briefed about the importance of Microbiology as a subject and its prospects in the present day of threats with trans-boundary diseases like swine flu, bird flu, etc. ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Sikkim Centre is the oldest Institute working on various aspects of agricultural, horticultural and animal husbandry, he informed. Recently, ICAR has established DNA finger printing, ELISA, other Biotechnology, Microbiology and Plant Pathology laboratory, he added.
Later, the students and faculties visited the different laboratories and the concerned scientists of each division highlighted and showed the research works underway in the institute. The students were interested to know and see the working of the ELISA and PCR laboratories
