ICAR-Indian Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology (IIAB), Garhkhatanga, Ranchi successfully organized International Symposium on Advances in Plant Biotechnology and Genome Editing (APBGE-2021), held virtually. More than 450 delegates from 11 different countries participated in the three-day Symposium (Apr 8-10).
The inaugural session had Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra, Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) & Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Govt. of India and Prof. Sudhir K. Sopory, Former Vice-Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi as Chief Guest and Guest of Honour respectively.
Dr. TR Sharma, Deputy Director General (Crop Science), ICAR delivered the plenary lecture outlining the application of biotechnology for food and nutritional security of the country.
Nine scientific sessions were organized during these days with keynote lectures delivered by renowned national and international experts working in the domain.
There was a timely workshop on Genome Editing Technology, partnering with the industries, for the benefit of young researchers and students.
The convener of the APBGE-2021, Dr. AK Singh told that it was an honour for the state Jharkhand in general and the organization IIAB in specific to organize the international symposium partnering with prestigious Plant Tissue Culture Association-India that pioneered application of tissue culture in plants in India for large benefits to the farmers of the subcontinent. Dr. Tilak Raj Sharma, Joint Director (Research) IIAB & Co-Chair APBGE-2021 told that the program of such scope and scale was very stimulating and timely.
Dr. Arunava Pattanayak, Director IIAB & Chair APBGE-2021 informed that mobilization of ready biotechnological tools for improved agronomic practices and exploring new advances such as genome editing are the open challenges to the researchers and policy planners alike for achieving the ambitious target of Doubling Farmers Income (DYI) set by Govt. ofIndia.
The symposium extensively covered recent advances in plant tissue culture, system biology and biotechnology in plant sciences with focus on plant stress induced by impending climate changes.
