BANNER NEWS

Ms. May-Elin Stener, Her Excellency, the Honourable Ambassador of Norway to India, and Dr. Ivar H. Kristensen, Director General of NIBIO, along with scientists from NIBIO, visited the RESILIENCE project sites in Cuttack, Odisha, on 16th September 2024.

The Odisha University of Agriculture & Technology (OUAT), in collaboration with the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), organized an International Conference on "Building Smallholder Climate Resilience for Achieving Sustainable Food Systems" from September 17th to 19th, 2024, at OUAT, Bhubaneswar, under the RESILIENCE Project. The conference was inaugurated by Ms. May-Elin Stener, Her Excellency, the Ambassador of Norway to India, as the Chief Guest. Prof. P. K. Roul, Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor of OUAT, presided over the conference.  Dr. Ivar H.

International Conference on "Building Small holder Climate Resilience for Achieving Sustainable Food Systems"

A workshop on "Digitalization of Agriculture: Current Opportunities, Challenges, and Responses for Smallholders" was conducted by the Resilience Project on March 4, 2024, at NASC, New Delhi. In the inaugural session, Ms. Marit Marie Strand, Counsellor at The Royal Norwegian Embassy, New Delhi, highlighted the pivotal role of digitization and commended India's commitment to implementing and sharing digital expertise globally.

International Commission on Irrigation and drainage organised the 25^th ICID International congress from 1-8^th November 2023 at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. In this conference, a side event of Climate action: Technology Interventions an d Capacity Building of Smallholders in irrigated rice-based cropping systems of India was organized  on 3^rd November. Dr.

Assam Agricultural University (AAU), in collaboration with the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, organized an international conference on "Next Gen Preparedness for Food Security and Environmental Sustainability" from 22-24 Nov, 2023. The conference was inaugurated by Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra, Chairman of the Plant Variety Protection and Farmer's Right Act, as the Chief Guest. Ms. Beate Langset, Counselor for Climate and Environment at the Norwegian Embassy, New Delhi; Dr. Udaya Sekhar Nagothu, Centre for International Development, NIBIO, Norway; Dr. Rabe Yahaya, IRRI; and Dr.

Food production in India is increasingly vulnerable to water scarcity risks, due to the growing demand for food, climate change and competition for scarce natural resources among competing sectors. Agriculture already accounts for more than 90% of the total freshwater withdrawals in India (FAO 2020). However, competing demands for water in the future may reduce the availability of freshwater for agriculture by up to 72% in 2025 and 65%–68% in 2050 (ADB 2013). Thus, there is an urgent need to enhance water resilience and adaptation to climate change to sustain Indian agriculture.

The Resilience Project has been implemented in Ganjam and Cuttack sites in Odisha by OUAT, NRRI, MSSRF, IWMI, and NIBIO, Norway, with funding support from the Norwegian embassy. Many Climate Smart Agriculture Technologies have been successfully demonstrated under this project, and efforts are being made to upscale these successful interventions in other areas with the support of line departments. One of the successful interventions under this project is the use of solar energy.

A team from the Norwegian Embassy included Beate Langest, Counsellor at the Norway Embassy, Dr. Udaya Sekhar Nagothu, NIBIO and Project Coordinator, Katrine Communication Officer at NIBIO, Norway, and Suresh Mathavan, Advisor at the Norwegian Embassy visited the Resilience project site in Ganjam, Odisha On March 29th, 2023. They were accompanied by project partners from Odisha University of Agriculture Technology (OUAT), M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), National Rice Research Institute (NRRI), and International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

The Norwegian Embassy delegation, comprising of Beate Langest, Counsellor, Mr. Suresh Mathavan, Advisor at the Norway Embassy, Dr. Udaya Sekhar Nagothu, Project Coordinator at NIBIO, and Katrine, Communication Officer at NIBIO, visited the Resilience project sites in Cuttack region on their second day of the visit. The project partners, including the National Rice Research Institute (NRRI), Odisha University of Agriculture Technology (OUAT), M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), and International Water Management Institute (IWMI), accompanied with them.