Agriculture

With a billion-plus mouths to feed, and counting, the increase in food demand has augmented pressure on farmers to produce more with fewer resources. Biotechnology, in agriculture, has emerged as one of the most powerful and immensely useful tool to meet our food and nutritional security. With increasing knowledge of genetics, researchers have accelerated the improvement of crops for enhanced yield and quality. Meet one such leading researcher Dr. Ravi Ranjan Kumar who works as Assistant Professor-cum-Junior Scientist, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour. He is a recipient of Young Scientist in Plant Molecular Biology - 2017 Award of Venus International Foundation for his contribution, research excellence and accomplishments in the area of Plant Molecular Biology.

Floriculture has been identified as a sunrise industry in India and accorded a 100% export oriented status. It has been found that commercial floriculture has higher potential per unit area than most of the field crops and is therefore a lucrative business. India is second only to China in terms of area under flower cultivation. But India’s share in world floriculture trade is only 0.61% in year 2014 and 0.89% in 2015 according to ASSOCHAM report. Researchers are relentlessly working on developing innovative solutions to overcome production and post-production challenges of floriculture in India. Meet an educator and researcher who stands out - Dr Alka Singh, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture at ACHF, Navsari Agricultural University (NAU), Navsari. She has recently received Honourable Mention at EET-CRS Academic Awards 2017 for her extensive research in the field of floriculture.