The University of Agricultural Sciences-Bangalore honoured Dhananjaya M.V., principal scientist and chief executive officer of BESST-HORT Incubation Centre of the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), with a national award on the occasion of its foundation day on Tuesday.
The Kalaiah Krishnamurthy National Award was presented to the eminent scientist for his research work on gummy stem blight in bottle guard and for developing gummy stem blight-resistant varieties of Arka Shreyas and Arka Ganga in bottle guard for the first time in the country.
Speaking at the event, Agriculture Minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy said, “Only when the agricultural sector is strong can the country achieve development in a stable manner… Agricultural universities need to put in more effort in this regard.”
He also said that along with prioritising the development of the agricultural sector, the government is keen on providing scientific and technical support to the sector.
“The production of dicots has increased by 132%, the production of oilseeds by 80% and the production of pulses has doubled in the last five decades after adopting varieties/hybrids developed by the UAS-B. The university has developed the world’s first inter-specific hybrid of cotton and the country’s first hybrid of paddy (KRH-1) and CMS-based sunflower (BSH-1). So far, 289 high-yielding varieties have been released. A total of 20 patents have been awarded for the research done in the UAS-B,” said a press release.
A new logo of the UAS-B and some new technologies which prioritise Kannada were also released during the event along with a handbook detailing the 60 major events planned across the year as the univerisy steps into its 60th year.
Published – October 02, 2024 01:28 am IST
