Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary (DARE) & Director General (ICAR) inaugurated the facilities established under NICRA project for conducting research on elevated temperature, carbon dioxide and water stress at ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru. The three facilities are viz., Free Air Temperature Enhancement (FATE), Carbon dioxide and Temperature Gradient Chambers (CTGC) and Automated Rainout Shelter (ROS).
The FATE facility is created to conduct experiments with elevated temperature and CO2. The facility is provided with infrared heaters to enhance the temperature at crop canopy height in open field conditions. The facility could be used for evaluation of horticultural crops under elevated temperature and CO2 conditions.
The Carbon dioxide and Temperature Gradient Chambers (CTGC) facility is intended for conducting studies on the impacts of elevated CO2 and temperature on growth, insect pests and diseases. The anticipated elevated CO2 and temperatures under climate change conditions are simulated in the facility.
The automated rain out shelter facility is useful for conducting studies on limited water stress. The facility is provided with light and rain sensors and cloudy conditions and few drops of rain would trigger the automated closure and protection of the experimental area. The studies on limited water stress could be conducted in the facility unhindered.
Dr. Mohapatra, Secretary (DARE) & Director General (ICAR) was accompanied by Dr. K. Alagusundaram, DDG (AE&NRM), Dr. S. Bhaskar, ADG (AAF&CC), Dr. G. Ravindra Chary, Director (Actg.), ICAR-CRIDA and Dr. M. R. Dinesh, Director, ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru.
The event was graced by NICRA review committee experts, Dr. N.K. Krishna Kumar, Former DDG (Hort Sci), Dr. B. Venkateswarlu, Former VC, VNMKV, Parbhani; Dr. Y.S Ramakrishna, Former Director, CRIDA, Dr. C.L. Acharya, Former Director, IISS, Bhopal, Dr. SK Pandey, Former Director, CPRI, Shimla, Dr. R. C. Upadhyay, Principal Scientist (Retd.), NDRI, Karnal, Dr. M. Prabhakar, PI, NICRA, CRIDA, Hyderabad and Directors and Centre Heads of local ICAR institutes in Bengaluru.