*”Workshop on Climate Change Impacts on Horticulture and Sustainable Practices Held at CSIR-IHBT Palampur”*
*”Workshop on Climate Change Impacts on Horticulture and Sustainable Practices Held at CSIR-IHBT Palampur”*
On October 17-18, 2024, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (CSIR-IHBT) organized a 2-day workshop titled “Sustaining Horticultural Production under the Climate Change Scenario in the Himalayas” at Palampur, H.P. The workshop aimed to identify and address the problems being faced by farmers due to climate change. The event was graced by Chief Guest Dr. Rajendra S Paroda (Padma Bhushan), Chairman of TAAS, Former Secretary, DARE & DG, ICAR; Dr. P.L. Gautam, former DDG (crop science) and former Vice-Chancellor of G.B. Pant University and Dr. Sudesh Kumar Yadav, Director CSIR-IHBT. They emphasized the need to address climate change to increase crop productivity and farmer’s income through high-value crops. Dr. Sudesh Kumar Yadav, Director CSIR-IHBT emphatically said that a multipronged strategy involving diverse stakeholders is the need of the hour to tackle the growing implications of changing climatic conditions.
The workshop was also attended by scientists, farmers, and industry partners, and discussed challenges and solutions for fruit and vegetable production in the Himalayan region (Northeast, Uttarakhand, J&K and HP) under the changing climate. The major challenges faced by the farmers are reduced soil fertility, poor water irrigation, imbalanced cost-production ratio, use of conventional farming methods, and poor management of pests and diseases that adversely affect the farming in Himalayan and northeastern parts of India. Due to these challenges, many farmers are migrating to other options for their livelihood. The expert panel from the various horticultural and agriculture departments pitched their solutions that include the use of certified quality planting material, the inclusion of other horticulture, floriculture, medicinal, and aromatic crops such as kiwi, peach, pear, lemongrass, ban kakri, and wild marigold, that can be a high-value market option. They encouraged the farmers to adopt crop diversification and inter-cropping which has the potential to generate more profit. Few local farmers also shared their success stories of growing dragon fruit, walnut, kiwi, and also intercropping like lemon grass with citrus fruit, which was very inspiring for other farmers. Dr. Vipin Hallan, chief scientist of the institute and the convener of the workshop thanked all the participants for their active participation.
