ICAR celebrates World Water Day – 2021

“We cannot think of practicing agriculture without water”, stressed Shri Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare. Shri Rupala was addressing the celebrations of the “World Water Day – 2021” virtually organized by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare today.

In his inaugural address, the Minister highlighted many facets of water in human life along with the importance of rivers like Ganga, Yamuna and Narmada, etc., in Indian Culture. Shri Rupala also underlined the role of women in water management and emphasized on the need to include water as part of school level education.

Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary (DARE) & DG (ICAR) emphasized on the importance of Rivers in human civilizations. He also accentuated on water stress, water conflicts globally. The Director General urged for water harvesting and storage, selection of appropriate methods for irrigation, choosing crops based on water resources availability, etc., for judicious use of water.

In his lecture on “Innovations in Water Management for Sustainable, Resilient and Healthier Food System”, Dr. Mark Smith, Director General, International Water Management Institute, Sri Lanka underlined the importance of water in the food system, water supply to food systems and water risks to food systems. He also stressed on the need for Research for Development (R4D) in the water system integrating diverse values of water.

Earlier, in his welcome address, Dr. Suresh Kumar Chaudhari, Deputy Director General (Natural Resource Management), ICAR underlined the significance of celebrating the World Water Day.

Shri Tomio Shichiri, FAO-India Representative also virtually participated in the event.

Around 1,500 delegates from the ICAR, CGIAR Centres, State Agricultural Universities, Central Agricultural Universities, ICAR-Agricultural Technology Application Research Institutes, Krishi Vigyan Kendras and Farmers from the various parts of the country also virtually participated in the event.