World Bank reps, agri dept officials visit IRRI

Varanasi: A team of representatives from the World Bank and government officials of the State Agriculture department, Uttar Pradesh visited the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) - South Asia Regional Centre, Varanasi on Monday.With a vision of development of agriculture and promotion of rural enterprise in the state, the representatives from World Bank and the government officials are on a visit across the state from March 13 to 18. As a part of the same, an eight member team visited the IRRI- South Asia Regional Centre, Varanasi.Prior to the visit, the team interacted with former vice-chancellor of Banaras Hindu University, Prof Panjab Singh and discussed the current status of agriculture in the state. Prof Singh emphasized the need for innovations in the field of climate-smart to benefit small landholders. During the visit, the team visited the various high-end technologically equipped laboratories of ISARC and observed the progress made by the IRRI in rice research. After the visit, an open session was organised in which the ISARC director, Sudhanshu Singh gave an overview of the different dimensions through which the centre is providing its assistance in enhancing the rice-based agri-food systems and contributing in poverty and hunger alleviation. He also urged further support from the government and the World Bank officials to achieve the shared goals of strengthening the food security channels. A discussion forum was also organised for Farmer Producer Organizations in which they discussed their challenges in the agriculture sector and expected solutions and support to boost their business.Anurag Yadav, secretary, department of agriculture, Uttar Pradesh led the team of the government officials including Mukesh Gautam, RS Rathore and others. The team from World Bank comprised senior rural development specialist and Task Team leader Vinayak Ghatate, lead agriculture specialist Andrew D Goodland, senior agricultural specialist Ranjan Samantaray, agriculture analyst Arshia Gupta, agriculture economist Shantanu Kumar, senior social development specialist Anindo Chatterjee and others.