The inaugural programme of 21 days ICAR sponsored Winter School on'Horticultural Biodiversity Conservation for Livelihood and Nutritional Security in the Era of Anthropocene and Climate change'” was held on 11th March, 2022at ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru. The programme started with the welcome and introduction by Dr.P.E.Rajasekharan, the training director. He welcomed the dignitaries and participants and briefed about the need and purpose of conducting this training and also mentioned the various training modules. He also projected the profile of registrations that has happened across the country. This was followed by self-introduction by 24 trainees who have registered for the winter school. The trainees expressed their expectations from the training programme. This was followed by remarks from Dr.Debi Sharma, Principal Scientist, Division of Basic Sciences and by Dr. C. Aswath, Head, Division of Flower and Medicinal Crops. They elaborated about the need for conserving horticultural genetic diversity and stressed that the conservation activities should start at the grassroot level aiming at social and ecological benefits apart from research point of view. They also felt the need for some reforms in policy issues related to germplasm exchange so that the germplasm can be made freely available for any research programmes throughout the country. This was followed by inaugural address from the chief guest, Dr.V.A.Parthasarathy, Former Director, ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research, Calicut.In his address, Dr. Parthasarathy mentioned about theimportance of horticultural genetic resourcesin the current global scenario. Hestressed on the role of local landraces and traditional varieties in sustaining nutritional and livelihood security. His talk on “Heirloom varieties in horticulture” described the evolution of horticultural genetic resources in the country and their documentation. He also opined that horticultural genetic resources have got a very significant role in the improvement of livelihood and nutritional security. He expressed the importance of scientific management of genetic resources for its effective utilization.Dr.B.N.S.Murthy, Director, ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru as the chairman of the program and he in his remarks elaborated on the plant genetic resources activities carried out by the institute and also briefed about the critical aspects involved in horticultural genetic resource management. Dr. Murthy explained about the various ex situ conservation methods adopted in the institute for the conservation of vegetatively propagated horticultural crops and the challenges involved in them. The programme was conducted in a hybrid mode (physical and online) and was attended by the resource persons from within and outside the institute.The programme concluded with the formal vote of thanks by Dr.Linta Vincent, training co-ordinator.
