Interdepartmental Seminar, B.sc (Ag)

Interdepartmental Seminar Report for 15.03.24
At the beginning of the session, Ms. Sumana Balo, Asst. Prof., Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry addressed the audience and invited our esteemed speaker Dr. Aditya Pratap Singh, Asst. Prof., Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics on the dais for giving his talk on the topic, “Speed Breeding: New Avenue of Crop improvement”. The presentation with clear understanding and educating the audience was highly appreciated by all the faculties. Students also took keen interest and participated actively in the discussion forum.
The speaker focused on “Speed Breeding” which is gaining much importance today, in order to meet the escalating demands for food production projected by 2050, development of new crop varieties becomes essential. In response to this challenge, Speed Breeding (SB) technology emerges as a promising solution, harnessing controlled environmental conditions to enhance plant development with multiplication of multiple generations within a single year helps in reducing the time required to select and breed desirable traits.
He explained the major advantages of SB as it has ability to shorten breeding cycles significantly. This accelerated breeding process enables plant breeders to respond more quickly to evolving environmental conditions, pests, and diseases. This facilitates the development of new cultivars endowed with desirable traits such as elevated protein content, enhanced disease resistance, salt tolerance, and drought tolerance. He highlighted, the challenges such as high costs of maintaining optimal growth conditions and the need for protocol optimization across different crops. Nevertheless, its ability to produce SB as a key innovation in addressing global food security challenges.
At the end, vote of thanks was given by Ms. Sumana Balo, Asst. Prof., Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, concluded the session that as research continues to refine and expand applicability of SB, it holds great promise for transforming agricultural practices and sustaining future food demands.

Interdepartmental seminar delivered by Dr. Aditya Pratap Singh, held on 15.03.2024