Bishan Singh Samundri Memorial Lectureship Award lecture organized at GNDU

Amritsar, December 9 (Punjab Post Bureau)- The Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences of Guru Nanak Dev University organized S.Bishan Singh Samundri Memorial Lectureship Award lecture on December 9, 2016. This lecture was organized in the profound memory of S. Bishan Singh Samundri, Founder Vice Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.

On this occasion, Prof. (Dr.) K. L. Chadha, Padma Shri delivered a special lecture on “Horticulture as a Viable Option for Diversification of Agriculture in India”. The lecture was sponsored by Sardar Jaswant Singh Memorial Education Trust, Jalandhar. Dr. Satwinderjeet Kaur, Head, Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences extended a formal welcome to the guests on the occasion and briefed about the achievements of the Department. This was followed by the introduction to the speaker by Dr. Renu Bhardwaj, Coordinator of the Programme.

Prof.(Dr.) K. L. Chadha emphasized on the need for altering the wheat-rice cultivation cycle adopted for many decades in India and addition of various fruits and vegetables in crop cycles. He informed the audience about the high end research going on in various agricultural institutes in India for years and the new hybrid varieties of vegetables and fruits developed to suit the Indian conditions. He concluded his lecture with the suggestions that there is a strong requirement for farmers of India to diversify their agriculture with fruits and vegetables cultivation which would enhance their incomes and profitability in addition to common wheat-rice culture. Lecture was presided over by worthy Vice-Chancellor Prof.(Dr.) Ajaib Singh Brar and he advised the students and faculty to work hard for achieving excellence in academic and research. On this occasion Dr. K.S. Rai, Professor Emeritus Notre Dame, introduced the aims and objectives of Sardar Jaswant Singh Rai Memorial Trust, Jalandhar. Prof. (Dr.) K. L. Chadha was facilitated with the Bishan Singh Samundri Award which included a momento, certificate and a cash prize of Rs. 25,000/- . Prof. (Dr.) K. L. Chadha who had been Director General of ICAR, New Delhi has contributed for more than 50 years to horticulture development in India. The vote of thanks was presented by Prof. Avinash Kaur Nagpal, Dean Faculty of  Life Sciences. The programme was attended by Prof. A. K. Thukral, Prof. Saroj Arora,  Dr. M.S. Bhatti, Dr. P.K. Pati and Dr. P.K. Verma from Deptt. of Biotechnology.