Shailendra Kumar visits MRCFC Khudwani, reviews rice Biodiversity Research

Kulgam, Sep 2: Principal Secretary, Agriculture Production, Shailendra Kumar, on Tuesday visited the Mountain Research Centre for Field Crops (MRCFC) Khudwani of SKUAST-Kashmir and participated in a live exhibition showcasing temperate rice biodiversity.

The Principal Secretary toured research trials and was briefed on the centre’s ongoing seed production and conservation programmes. Officials highlighted the centre’s eight-decade-long contributions in rice and field crop research, particularly its germplasm conservation initiatives.

Accompanied by SKUAST-K Vice-Chancellor Prof. Nazir Ahmad Ganie, Deputy Commissioner Kulgam Athar Aamir, senior officers from the Agriculture Department, and scientists, Kumar stressed the need for demand-driven and development-oriented research to bridge the food grain gap in J&K. He called for scaling up oilseed production to achieve the target of expanding cultivation to three lakh hectares.

Kumar also underscored the importance of popularising advanced technologies among farmers through frontline demonstrations, assuring institutional support and funding for strengthening the centre’s research and educational role.

Prof. Nazir Ahmad Ganie lauded MRCFC Khudwani for emerging as a model research centre, recognised nationally and internationally. He pointed out that the centre serves as India’s nodal hub for rice blast screening, a critical crop disease.