The Conference was organized jointly with Visva-Bharati and in association with the Government of West Bengal, Department of Agriculture on 19th and 20th November, 2016. Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya was our esteemed Knowledge Partner for this Conference. This was the inaugural edition of our agriculture focused programme and the principal objective was to create a platform for all agriculture stakeholders to discuss, analyze, share best practices and bring forward the opportunities in agriculture and related allied sectors especially production of pulses and technicalities, distribution and marketing support for the farmers. The United Nations has announced 2016 as the International year of Pulses and the conference was organized in Commemoration of the UN’s announcement, especially since India is a net importer of pulses, the source of major nutrients and crucial in the context of the Nation’s food security.

Our objective was to create a vibrant and most relevant forum for farmers, scientists, the Government, agro-based industries, research scholars and all agriculture stakeholders. This was also a continuation of the Chamber’s Agri and Rural Development Committee’s ongoing agri-related villagelevel projects towards improving farm productivity.

The inaugural session of this Conference was graced by Dr. D.D.Patra, Vice-Chancellor, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya; Prof. (Dr.) Swapan Kumar Datta, Vice- Chancellor, Visva-Bharati University; Dr. Rajeev Kumar Varshney, Director, Centre of Excellence in Genomics, ICRISAT; Mr. Ambarish Dasgupta, Immediate Past President, The Bengal Chamber and Mr. Sutanu Ghosh, President,The Bengal Chamber.

Dr. Rajeev Kumar Varshney, Director, Centre of Excellence in Genomics, ICRISAT addressed the Conference on the subject, “Improvement of Pulses: Genome to Field” as the Keynote Speaker. Session I & II, following the Inaugural Session, addressed various aspects of Self Sufficiency in Pulses:

• Self Sufficiency in Pulses: Challenges and Way Forward by Dr. N. P. Singh, Director, IIPR, Kanpur.

• Technology Vision – 2035 by Dr. Gautam Goswami, DST, New Delhi.

• 4R Nutrient Stewardship – A Way Forward towards Su stainable Pulse Production by Dr. Sudarshan Datta, IPNI, Kolkata.

• Importance of Zn nutrition in Pulse production by Dr. Soumitra Das, IZA, New Delhi.

• Integrated Breeding approaches to sustain global chickpea productivity under heat stress by Dr. Uday Jha, IIPR, Kanpur.

• Appropriate management practices towards selfsufficiency in pulse production by Prof. Kajal Sengupta, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani, West Bengal.

• Resource conservation Technologies and weed management in pulse based cropping systems: Way to achieve the self-sufficiency in Pulses by Dr. C.P. Nath, IIPR, Kanpur.

On the second day of the Conference about 250 farmers were exposed to scientific methods and latest technologies in cultivation of Pulses during farmers-scientists meet. Prof. D.C. Ghosh, Dr. Swapan Kr. Maity, Dr. Suchhanda Mondal, Prof. Chirantan Chattopadhyay, Dr. Ranjan Nath, and Dr. Prahlad Deb interacted with the farmers and clarified their doubts.

Dr. Sanjeev Chopra, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary & In- Charge – Department of Agriculture, Government of West Bengal addressed on “Opportunities in the area of Agriculture in West Bengal” in the Valedictory Session. Prof. (Dr.) Chirantan Chattopadhyay , Vice-Chancellor, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya and Prof. (Dr.) Swapan Kumar Datta , Vice-Chancellor ,Visva-Bharati University also delivered their speeches in the Valedictory Session.

Mr. Satyabrata Mukherjee, (Chairperson-Agriculture & Rural Development Committee, The Bengal Chamber) formally thanked all the Speakers, Sponsors & Participants at the successful conclusion of our Chamber’s first agriculture focused Conference.

The Conference brought together the Government, the Academia, Agro-based industries, Farmers and Research Scholars – all on a common platform. The Conference had a footfall of nearly 500 participants from the Agriculture Sector especially progressive farmers, scientists, researchers, senior Government officials and the Media.