23 December 2020, Punjab, IN: The Department of Plant Pathology, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), organized a virtual brainstorming session on “Combating Rusts and Karnal Bunt of Wheat: Past and Future Strategies” under the aegis of two national plant pathological societies viz. Indian Psychopathological Society (IPS), Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi and Indian Society of Plant Pathologists (INSOPP), Ludhiana.
Dr PPS Pannu, Additional Director of Research (Natural Resource and Plant Health Management), PAU and Dr Praveen Chhuneja, Director, School of Agricultural Biotechnology, PAU, chaired the session on wheat diseases.
The eminent wheat scientists from International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), Mexico (Dr Pawan Kumar Singh, Dr David Hodson and Dr Sridhar Bhavani); University of Sydney (Dr Harbans Bariana); Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR), Karnal (Dr SC Bhardwaj and Dr Sudheer Kumar) and PAU (Dr Achla Sharma) delivered talks which was followed by detailed discussions. The session aimed at showing the direction for future research on yellow rust and Karnal Bunt of wheat.
In the inaugural session, Dr Robin Gogoii, Secretary of IPS, and Dr Narinder Singh, President of INSOPP, briefed about activities of their respective societies. The President of IPS and Member ASRB, Dr PK Chakrabarty gave his presidential remarks.
Another session for student award was chaired by Dr Naresh Mehta, Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Dr Sanjeev Sharma, Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla, and Dr PL Kashyap, IIWBR, Karnal.
Two M.Sc. students, namely, Ms Aasiya Nabi of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Sciences and Technology (SKUAST), Kashmir and Ms Jashanpreet Kaur of PAU, Ludhiana were selected for Prof MJ Narasimhan Merit Academic Award and Ms Sumiah Wani, SKUAST (K), Kashmir was selected for APS travels sponsorship for Ph.D. students. These students will now participate in the national symposium of IPS scheduled to be held in March 2021.
Dr Jaspal Kaur (Zonal President, IPS, NZ) and Dr Abhishek Sharma (Zonal Councillor, IPS, NZ), proposed a vote of thanks.
Many eminent Plant Pathologists including Dr SS Chahal, Dr (Mrs) Indu Sharma, Dr SK Mann, Dr JS Dhiman, Dr MS Saharan, Dr DP Singh and Dr P Nallathambhi attended the session.
