LUDHIANA,
The Quinquennial Review Team (QRT) of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi, lauded the Punjab Agricultural University’s research work on fruits during their visit to PAU. The team was headed by the Chairman Dr K.L. Chadha, Former Deputy Director General (Horticulture Science), ICAR, and President, Horticulture Society of India, New Delhi. It comprised five members, namely Dr BMC Reddy, Former Vice-Chancellor, Dr YSR Horticultural University, West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh; Dr V.S. Thakur, Former Vice-Chancellor, Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, Himachal Pradesh; Dr S. Maiti, Former Director ICAR-Directorate of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Research, Anand, Gujarat; Dr H.K. Senapati, Ex-Dean PGF-cum-DRI, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha; and Dr Prakash Patil, Project Coordinator, ICAR-All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Fruits and Secretary QRT, Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru, Karnataka. The team reviewed the work done (research, administration, funding and other related matters) under the project ICAR-AICRP on Fruits in the Department of Fruit Science, PAU, during the period 2011-2017.

The team met Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, to discuss the progress of the project.In his welcome address, Dr Harminder Singh, Head, Department of Fruit Science, highlighted the salient achievements of the centre.

Dr H.S. Rattanpal, Principal Investigator of the project, presented a detailed report of the work carried out under the project.

Dr M.I.S. Gill, Additional Director of Research (Horticulture), informed that the visiting team made very pertinent and useful suggestions and recommendations for the benefit of the project. The team also visited the orchards of the department to see the experiments under AICRP, he said. An impressive exhibition on fruits, achievements and publications of the centre was also put up, which was highly appreciated by the team. The PAU experts comprising Dr Sandeep Singh, Dr Anita Arora, Dr N.K. Arora and Dr Gurteg Singh also participated in the discussion.