Review Meeting of

Consortia Research Platform on Water and AICRP on Irrigation Water Management at ICAR-IIWM, Bhubaneswar by Dr. A.K. Sikka, DDG (NRM), ICAR, New Delhi

Dr. A.K. Sikka, DDG (NRM), ICAR, New Delhi visited ICAR-IIWM, Bhubaneswar during 30th May to 1st June 2015. During his visit at the institute he reviewed the technical programme of Consortia Research Platform on Water and AICRP on Irrigation Water Management. While reviewing the Consortia Research Platform on Water, he urged the scientists to undertake such a research project under water platform which are not possible to take through normal Institute's and AICRP on IWM programme. He emphasized to undertake extensive field work under different research programmes of the Institute and validate the results generated by geo-spatial tools, modeling and decision support system with the field experiment. He also stressed upon to study the water-nutrient interaction together under fertigation system. He suggested to develop renewable energy sources for water and nutrient management in the field. Recognizing the importance of utilization of waste water in agricultural perspectives owing to growing pressure on freshwater resources of the country, he asked the scientists to prepare water quality guidelines for agriculture under Indian conditions and also to undertake research projects related to bioremediation of poor and marginal quality water.

He also visited on-farm experimental sites at Satyabadi and Kanas blocks of Puri district where ICAR-IIWM has developed integrated technology on crop and water management to mitigate excess water situation in coastal flood-prone and seasonal waterlogged areas. He also attended a Field Day on 'Mitigating excess water situation in coastal seasonal waterlogged areas' organized by ICAR-IIWM, Bhubaneswar at Satyabadi, Puri district on 30.5.15 and interacted with the farmers intensively. Different crop and water management interventions were demonstrated in the field day which was attended by about 120 farmers. He appreciated the ICAR-IIWM to develop such a profitable technology which has facilitated to improve the crop and water productivity of challenging waterlogged ecology and which was found to be profitable and sustainable in the farmers' field. He also surveyed different waterlogged ecologies in Puri district and urged the scientists of ICAR-IIWM, Bhubaneswar to prepare a geo-spatial map depicting the depth and duration of waterlogging to accommodate a particular technology to a particular waterlogging ecosystem. During his visit, he also interacted with the scientists and other staff of the Institute at ICAR-IIWM, Bhubaneswar to discuss about different issues related to scientific, administrative and financial matters.