Person: Paroda, R.S.
Loading...
Email Address
Birth Date
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Job Title
Last Name
Paroda
First Name
R.S.
Name
Paroda, R.S.
6 results
Search Results
Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
- Agricultural policies and investment priorities for managing natural resources, climate change and air pollution: policy brief(TAAS, 2018) Paroda, R.S.; Jat, M.L.; Madhur Gautam; Stirling, C.; Bhag MalAgriculture is an engine of inclusive economic growth as a major source of livelihood for millions of smallholder farmers and other rural residents in India. Having made significant strides in food production, through the Green, White, Yellow, and Blue Revolutions, Indian agriculture is now at a cross road. Deterioration in the quality of natural resources (soil, water and air), together with the adverse effects of climate change, pose significant threats to the sustainability of agricultural production and farmers’ incomes. The situation in the Green Revolution corridors of India is especially daunting with severe problems of hydrological imbalance, soil degradation, and water pollution. In addition, the problem of air pollution from crop residue burning has emerged as a major cause for national and international concern because of its enormous environmental and health costs across the Northern plains of India. These worrying trends have led policy-makers to recognize that past strategies adopted for agricultural growth need to be re-adjusted, with the benefit of the same far-sighted vision as in the case of Green Revolution, to address these emerging complex challenges, fully exploit the potential opportunities for inclusive but sustainable growth, and promote rural prosperity.
Publication - Book of extended summaries: national dialogue on efficient nutrient management for Improving soil health(TAAS, 2015) Majumdar, K.; Sikka, A.K.; Paroda, R.S.; Mcdonald, A.; Jat, M.L.Improving soil health is a national mission and deliberating on such a topical issues through national dialogue is a collective wisdom of the organizers. Our sincere appreciations to the senior management of the organizing institutions; TAAS, ICAR, CIMMYT, IPNI, CSISA and FAI for their unconditional financial and technical support to organize such an event at the time when global community is celebrating “International Year of Soils”. We are more than confident that such a national dialogue will create awareness among large number of researchers, land users, civil society and policy planners about the soil health and help in developing an ‘actionable road map’ to contribute to the national mission on soil health. We thankfully acknowledge the overwhelming response and commitment of all the distinguished chairs, co-chairs, panelists, speakers and facilitators of various sessions whose intellectual power will make the difference in meeting the objectives of the dialogue. Our heartfelt thanks to the Chair, co-chair and members of the organizing committee and technical committee of the event for their dedicated efforts in organizing this national event. We sincerely acknowledge the support of Director IARI, secretary ICAR and Secretary DARE & Director General ICAR for extending the conference facilities for this event. Excellent logistic and administrative support received from Ms. Tripti Agarwal (CIMMYT), Ms. Simmi Dogra (TAAS) and Mr. Kailash Kalwania (CIMMYT) is highly appreciated.
Publication - Proceedings of the Regional Consultation on improving wheat productivity in Asia; Bangkok (Thailand); 26-27 Apr 2012(FAO, 2013) Paroda, R.S.; Das Gupta, S.; Bhag Mal; Singh, S.S.; Jat, M.L.; Gyanendra SinghWheat is the second largest food security crop in Asia. Recent estimates indicate that world will need around 1090 million tons of wheat by 2050 from its current production level of 680 million tons. To meet this demand, developing countries should increase their wheat production by 77 per cent and more than 80 per cent of demand should come from vertical expansion. Taking the above facts in view, FAO and APAARI in collaboration with CIMMYT, ICARDA and JIRCAS organized a “Regional Consultation on Improving Wheat Productivity in Asia” on 26-27 April, 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand to apprise the member countries on the current status of wheat research and development, share experiences, and develop strategies to enhance wheat production to meet the projected demand by 2050. The countries that participated in the regional consultation included Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, China, DPR Korea, India, Iran, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand and Uzbekistan. A total of 53 participants including the representatives of CIMMYT, ICARDA, JIRCAS, APAARI, FAO, regional NARS, NGOs, CSOs, farmers and the private sector attended. The two day consultation was divided into inaugural session, five technical sessions, two working group discussions and a plenary session. A total of 26 scientific papers were presented which pertained to five thematic areas: i) strategy for increasing wheat productivity, ii) national and regional wheat scenario, iii) managing wheat diseases, iv) stakeholders dialogue on CRP 3.1 (Wheat), and v) addressing emerging challenges. Besides, two working groups were formed to discuss both research and development related issues. The presentations on strategy for increasing wheat productivity addressed the major research efforts made for breaking yield barriers through germplasm sharing, prebreeding, conventional breeding, collaborative/ regional testing, and use of new tools and techniques like precision phenotyping, biotechnology, etc. In order to address the emerging climate change scenario, greater focus was stressed on developing biotic and abiotic stress tolerant varieties and resilient management practices for wheat production system. The need to explore new opportunities of GM and hybrid wheat with more than 30 per cent heterosis was also highlighted. The technical session on national/regional wheat scenario mostly covered the importance of exchange of germplasm with specific traits (biotic, abiotic stress tolerance) and their collective evaluation and sharing of results. For this, a need was felt to establish a regional platform/alliance for advancement and sharing of new knowledge, germplasm, tools, techniques and practices, for example, stress tolerant germplasm, conservation agriculture based practices, use of small farm machinery, and capacity building, etc. The disease management strategies were also discussed elaborately. It was highlighted that diseases are not confined within the borders of a particular country and hence, it was considered important to take collective and coordinated action at the regional level for survey, surveillance and early warning. It was also cautioned that emerging diseases are a concern which require institutions like FAO to take lead in terms of awareness that can mobilize resources to tackle the problem. The session on stakeholders dialogue on CGIAR Research Program on CRP 3.1 (Wheat) which was officially launched in January 2012, was led by CIMMYT. It was pointed out that through the new CRP, an opportunity for collaboration and sharing research strategies and knowledge has emerged. As 50 per cent of wheat is grown in Asia-Pacific region, major support from this program should come to this region. A strong partnership around this program was recommended in order to reap the maximum benefits through involvement of all stakeholders. In the last session on addressing emerging challenges, the resource persons advocated promotion of conservation agriculture (CA) and highlighted major issues under the conventional tillage based production systems and how CA can help in addressing these issues. Also, issues of adaptation and mitigation to climate change were discussed in detail. The key highlights of regional consultation on wheat were summarized in the concluding session. Three major areas highlighted for focussed attention included policy, research and development for enhancing productivity of wheat in Asia. It was emphasized that there is a need to develop and popularize wheat cultivars that can withstand the adversaries of weather and soil. The global, regional and country specific research needs would require higher investments, close regional collaboration and mutual understanding to address future threats and constraints in order to ensure food security. Long-term research and development needs must also be kept in view. It was emphasized that food and nutritional security for the people of Asian region could be addressed through increased production of wheat and rice. There is also a need for enhanced focus on the use of alien species, hybrid technology and biotechnology. Environmentally sustainable small farm mechanization requiring support from all the stakeholders also needs to be given due attention. Therefore, regional cooperation among FAO, APAARI, CG Centers like CIMMYT and ICARDA, ASEAN and SAARC is extremely necessary to exchange ideas and learn from each other’s experiences. Various action points and recommendations pertaining to the establishment of a Regional Alliance on Wheat (RAW) through facilitation by FAO, APAARI and CIMMYT and to develop a Road Map for future directions for research, development and policy issues emerged. These proceedings cover the details of various deliberations and recommendations emanating from the regional consultation on wheat.
Publication - International cooperation for winter wheat improvement in Central Asia: Results and perspectives(The Scientific and Technology Research Council of Turkey, 2005) Morgounov, A.; Braun, H.J.; Ketata, H.; Paroda, R.S.Crop production in Central Asia has long history going back to 2000-3000 years BC. The farming in the past was mainly concentrated in irrigated areas along the two main river basins: AmuDarya and Syr-Darya. Wheat cultivation in Central Asia in the 20th century concentrated primarily in rainfed area. The breeding work conducted at several stations in the region was initially based on local landraces and resulted in adapted varieties. However, the breeding work was not consistent and interrupted. Since 1991 the wheat became an important crop due to food security concern and replaced cotton in some areas. The modern varieties developed in the region are well adapted and combine yield potential, grain quality and disease resistance. At the same time a number of foreign varieties from Mexico, Russia, Turkey, USA and other countries are cultivated in the region. The international cooperation with centers like CIMMYT and ICARDA resulted in the establishment of international network of researchers sharing the germplasm, knowledge and experience. New jointly developed varieties are being officially tested and some already reached the farmers. Support provided to wheat variety development and promotion in the region from international agencies and organizations like FAO, German Agency for Technical Cooperation, US Department of Agriculture, Washington State University, Winrock International, and others is fundamental for the wheat grain production in Central Asia.
Publication - Regional dialogue on conservation agriculture on South Asia: proceedings and recommendations(CIMMYT, 2011) Jat, M.L.; Malik, R.; Saharawat, Y.S.; Gupta, R.K.; Mal, B.; Paroda, R.S.South Asia accounts for less than 2% of the world’s total land area and 14 % of the global agricultural land. However, about 94% of the agriculturally suitable area is already under cultivation with almost no scope for further horizontal expansion of agriculture. There has been a tremendous shift in the production variables of modern farming over traditional farming. Even then, most of the agronomic works revolved around tillage and labour intensive farming. Declining soil organic carbon (SOC) status of soils has been the main shift in agriculture from ‘traditional animal based subsistence’ to ‘intensive chemical and tractor based’ agriculture that multiplied problems associated with sustainability of natural resources. The SOC concentration in most cultivated soils of South Asia is less than 5 g/kg compared with 15-20 g/kg in uncultivated virgin soils, attributed to intensive tillage, removal/burning of crop residue and mining of soil fertility. Large acreage of cultivated lands shows fertility fatigue and multiple nutrients deficiency in many intensively cropped areas. This adds to our challenge of making farming more profitable and sustainable. Hence, the current and future food security of South Asian countries has twin challenges of resource fatigue and decelerating productivity growth of food grain crops. These challenges are being further exacerbated with the sharp rise in the cost of food and energy, depleting water resources, vulnerability of soil to degradation, indiscriminate and imbalanced use of external production inputs and overarching effects of changing climate. This has and will further lead to lower farm profit, making farming unattractive and unsustainable. The efficiency and sustainability of a production system depends on system-based management optimization of crop yields, economic benefits, and environmental impacts. Therefore, vertical improvement through development and deployment of tools and techniques aiming at increasing agricultural production and arresting degradation of soil, water and environment and their rational use are essential to satisfy future food demand in the region and to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). To bring a paradigm shift in agriculture, National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS), the FAO of the United Nations and CGIAR Centers have accepted conservation agriculture (CA) as a vehicle for change. No-till agriculture together with other associated management practices such as direct seeding into loose crop residues to provide soil cover and to conserve soil moisture, judicious choice of crop rotations and agroforestry tree species constitutes conservation agriculture (CA). CA based crop management practices have proved to be effective to produce more at less costs, reduce environmental pollution, promote conjunctive use of organics (avoids residue burning), improve soil health and promote timeliness of planting and other farm operations to address issues relating to terminal heat stress in the region. Like any other tillage and crop establishment technology, it may not be a panacea for all present day ills, but has proven to bring out south American Agriculture out of its stagnant state almost 20 years ago, skyrocketing the cereals and oilseed production system. Same is the case for regional CA networks in different continents/sub-continents. CA is being widely accepted as an important component of the overall strategy for enhancing productivity, improving the environment and conserving natural resources for food security and alleviating poverty in such areas. Thus, for addressing the issues of resource fatigue and bridging management yield gaps, in South Asia, Conservation agriculture based management solutions can prove to be the cornerstone. In South Asia, no-till systems were introduced during mid 1990s by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in close collaboration with regional NARES primarily to grow wheat in ricewheat system. The CA program was later facilitated by the strong presence of Rice-Wheat Consortium (RWC) for the Indo-Gangetic Plains led by the regional NARS and convened by CIMMYT. It led to a steady rise in the acreage of CA based resource conserving technologies in India, Pakistan, and Nepal and to some extent in Bangladesh. RWC reported a total coverage of nearly 3 m ha under CA based resource conserving technologies in South Asia by 2007 benefiting hundreds of thousand farmers directly to the extent of nearly US$ 150 million. This has been possible through regional learnings and information sharing for development of light weight, low cost multi-crop ferti-seed planters through building capacity of local manufacturers. However, in the past few years, there has been a slowdown in the adoption of zero-till systems in the region. This has been due to several reasons including blanket and commodity crop based recommendations, farmers’ access to location specific and timely information and policy mismatches in prioritization of investments but the most important one is the lack of common platform for regional learnings and information sharing. It is fairly well understand that dissemination or extension of new technologies in general and CA in particular is a complex issue. Very often than not the scientists, having developed and tested the technologies, are not able to transfer these to the farmers widely. Why farmer is not ready to adopt the new technologies is an issue that haunts the planners and scientists alike. Farmers today need value chain information (production, protection, inputs and services) on region-specific technologies. These region specific technologies and innovations are in advanced stages of experimentation in farmers’ fields. However, the lack of a regional common platform for sharing this information and capacity building are the major deterrent in accelerating the pace of adoption of CA in South Asia. Therefore, the agricultural science, extension and development leaders, key researchers of South Asian National Agricultural Research and Extension System (NARES), CGIAR Centers in the region, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), innovators, Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), and farmer associations met on 1-2 November, 2011 at New Delhi, India for a dialogue on ‘Conservation Agriculture in South Asia’. The dialogue focused on Conservation Agricultural Research for Development (CAR4D) through innovations for greater impacts on smallholder farmers in the region was organized jointly by Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The dialogue was structured in four sessions: i) status of conservation agriculture in the region, ii) initiatives of CG Centers on CA in South Asia, iii) focused discussion through break-out groups on (a) out-scaling for impact, (b) partnerships for regional cooperation, (c) capacity building, and (iv) research and development needs on CA in South Asia. The status reports of different countries were presented by the respective RW coordinators of regional NARS and the progress of CA initiatives by the key CG Centers in the region (CIMMYT, IRRI, IFPRI, ILRI, ICRISAT) as well as other international programs in Central Asia were presented by the respective lead scientists of these organizations. All presentations were followed by in-depth discussions. This report provides the outcomes of deliberations and key recommendations for implementation by the scientific community and policy planners.
Publication - Increasing wheat production in Central Asia through science and international cooperation(CIMMYT, 2005) Morgounov, A.; McNab, A.; Campbell, K.; Paroda, R.S.The objective of the First Central Asian Wheat Conference, held on 10-13 June 2003 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, was to assess the current status of wheat research and cooperation in Central Asia, particularly in the areas of wheat breeding, genetics, plant protection, biotechnology, and agronomy. Also evaluated were the achievements of regional cooperation in promoting winter and spring wheat varieties, seed production activities, and the exchange of information among academics and specialists from Central Asia and foreign countries.
Publication