The World Earth Day golden jubilee celebration have concluded at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir (SKUAST-K).
On the concluding day the varsity organised a series ofexpert webinars and student competitions on “Climate Action” – the theme of theDay for 2020.
Amid COVID19 lockdown, SKUAST-K’s faculty of Agriculture,Wadura in collaboration with World Bank-ICAR funded National AgriculturalHigher Education Project (NAHEP) organised a series of online programmes tocelebrate the 50th anniversary of the World Earth Day.
A statement said some national and international experts onagriculture and environment delivered the lectures on climate change, itsimpact on agriculture and sustainable farming.
Prof Raihana Habib Kanth, the organising secretary of thecommemoration events, talked about the history of Earth Day, this year’s themeand strategies adapted for climate action on the inaugural event.
SKUAST-K’s director planning and monitoring and PI NAHEP,Prof Nazir Ahmad Ganai and dean faculty of Agriculture, Prof AH Hakeem alsospoke at the inaugural function.
Dr LS Rathore, a consultant at World Met Organization,Geneva and former DG of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), on the secondday of the programme, spoke about weather observation and forecasting andimprovement in accuracy of forecasting by the IMD.
Dr Santanu Bal, a project director at Indian Council ofAgricultural Research spoke on “Managing risks in agriculture: An agrometeorological perspective’.
Dr Elena Matesscu, director general, National Meteorologicaladministration, Romania addressed the webinar educating the participants aboutweather systems affecting agriculture and the role of World MeteorologicalOrganisation in forecasting and its impact on farming activities.
In one of the webinars, Dr Farhana Junaid from Canada taughtstudents how to register their city on citynaturechallenge.org foridentification of flora and fauna.
More 400 students participated in the weeklong programme ininter-faculty and inter-school photography and slogan competition, debates andquizzes on climate change and sustainable agricultural practices.
A plantation drive was also conducted by the students,residing in the hostel at Wadura campus amid the lockdown while maintainingsocial distancing and taking precautions like wearing masks and gloves.