The Hindu: Agricultural scientists across the country are joining hands in a research project to assess the potential of tuber crops like tapioca and yam to withstand climate change.
Scientists from 18 States are being equipped to take up the project. As many as 35 delegates representing different agricultural universities are participating in a training programme on germplasm conservation, climate change mitigation and e-networking which began at the Central Tuber Crop Research Institute (CTCRI) here on Monday under the auspices of the All India Coordinated Research Project on Tuber Crops (AICRPTC).
Inaugurating the training programme, Shashi Tharoor, MP, stressed the need to transfer the technologies generated at CTCRI to the farmers for their benefit. S.K. Chakrabarti, Director, CTCRI, presided over the inaugural function.
Highlighting the relevance of the programme, Project Coordinator, AICRPTC, James George said studying the potential of climate change resilience in tuber crops like tapioca and yam could be relevant for the country’s food security. Dr. George said the programme was tailored to cover tuber crops in different agro-climatic conditions across the country.
The CTCRI, he said, had developed a simulation programme to predict the impact of climate change in different conditions.
He said the climatological and experimental data from different States would be integrated through an e- network for analysis at the CTCRI. This, he said, could form the basis of informed policy decisions at the national level.
