ICAR- Indian Institute of Rice Research organises 58^th Annual Rice Group Meeting (Hybrid mode) at AAU, Jorhat during April 4-5, 2023

The 58^th Annual Rice Group Meeting (ARGM) is being held at AAU, Jorhat from 4-5 May, 2023. The Chief Guest of the 58^th ARGM is Dr TR Sharma, DDG (Crop Science), ICAR, New Delhi. The other dignitaries present in the program are: Dr BC Deke, Vice Chancellor, AAU, Jorhat; Dr SK Pradhan, ADG (FFC), ICAR, New Delhi; Dr RM Sundaram, Director, ICAR-IIRR, Hyderabad; Dr AK Nayak, Director, ICAR-NRRI, Cuttack; Dr SR Das, Honorary Professor, OUAT and Dr A Bhattacharya, Director of Research (Agri), AAU, Jorhat. The welcome address was given by Dr A Bhattacharya. Dr RM Sundaram, Director, ICAR-IIRR presented the progress made by AICRIP on rice and research highlights of AICRIP and IIRR for 2022-23. Dr Nayak, Director, ICAR-NRRI, Cuttack stressed upon the importance of DSR and carbon credit to the farmers. Dr SK Chetia, Chief Scientist, ARRI, Titabar presented the 100 years glorious journey of Assam Rice Research Institute since its inception in 1923. Dr SK Pradhan, ADG (FFC) stressed upon developing nutritionally-enriched varieties, development of low cost machines and value chain addition of rice products. Dr SR Das, Honorary Professor, OUAT urged the breeders to develop varieties with submergence tolerance, tolerance to stagnant flooding and with anaerobic respiration especially for Eastern India. Dr BC Deke, Vice Chancellor, AAU, Jorhat emphasized the need to shift from ‘Green Revolution’ to ‘Green Commerce’. He also emphasized development of new varieties accompanied by development of suitable package of practices. Dr TR Sharma, DDG (Crop Sciences), ICAR, New Delhi in his inaugural address stressed the importance of multi-disciplinary mode of research. Development of specialty rices including low/ultra-low glycemic index and high grain protein varieties needs to prioritized. Varieties with multiple stress tolerance and high micronutrient levels need to be developed. Speed breeding and other genome technologies to be utilized for development of NUE and WUE varieties. Mechanization techniques for transplanting, harvesting and value chain addition need to be developed. Dr Sharma appreciated the efforts made by ICAR-IIRR led by Dr Sundaram. The inaugural session ended with the presentation of vote of thanks by Dr MS Prasad, Convener, 58^th ARGM, AAU, Jorhat. Ten publications, two websites and two mobile apps were released during this occasion. About 400 delegates from India and other countries actively participated in the program.