CIMMYT delegation calls on Badal

A delegation of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) today called on Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to apprise him of the progress of the 'Borlaug Institute for South Asia' (BISA) centre that was being established in the state at Ludhiana.
BISA, an international research institute, aims to harness the latest technology in agriculture to improve farm productivity and sustainability meet the demands of the future.
The centre at Ludhiana is being set up under the auspices of Mexico-based CIMMYT in a collaborative effort with the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR).
During the meeting, Chief Minister Badal impressed upon the visiting delegation, led by Director General Dr Martin Kropff, the need to create the infrastructure on priority level, a spokesperson from the Chief Minister's Office said.

He also hoped that this institute would prove to be a milestone to herald the second green revolution by encouraging value added crops like Maize, Basmati and Oil seeds and thereby helping farmers to come out of the rut of wheat-paddy cycle.
The Chief Minister has assured full support to the project and said that he would personally take up the matter with the Union Government for the easy and adequate fund flow for the creation of infrastructure at the Ladowal (Ludhiana), the spokesperson said.

Kropoff informed Badal that BISA has decided to setup their headquarter at Ludhiana after the entire construction work would be completed.

Expressing his gratitude to the Chief Minister, the Director General said they have already initiated research work at various levels with the help of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, to develop new verity crops of better yield with less consumption of water besides preserving soil health by enhancing the Nitrogen contents in it.
Badal impressed upon the BISA to set up 'Demo Farms' in various parts of the state so that scientific research in different agro-climatic zones could benefit the farmers thereby enhancing the quality and productivity of different crops.