From Strength To Strength In The Drylands With Diversity, Values And Commitment
ICRISAT news Dec. 2021
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Figure: (L) Dr Jacqueline Hughes, Director General, ICRISAT, inaugurates the Annual Day celebrations by lighting a ceremonial lamp. Photos: PS Rao, ICRISAT
Cultural diversity, cheer and resilience marked ICRISAT’s 49th Annual Day celebrated on 21 December across its offices in Africa and India. Signalling a departure from last year’s subdued celebrations due to COVID-19, staff participated actively taking necessary precautions.
“We are celebrating our values, achievements, diversity, and we are celebrating us. We now have our strategic plan 2021-2025, which outlines a strong and focussed vision. We worked through a rolling medium-term plan and have recently launched a tool to track how we are doing,” said DrJacqueline Hughes, Director General, ICRISAT.
The celebrations at Hyderabad, India, began with performances of song and dance followed by a carnival. Later in the day, the institute recognized and rewarded outstanding scientific contributions and fundraising efforts, excellence in the celebratory sporting events held on campus and recognition of long service to the institute. Staff awards were also given in West and Central Africa and Eastern and Southern Africa.
Commending ICRISAT’s achievements in 2021, Prof. Prabhu Pingali, Chair of ICRISAT’s Governing Board, said, “The Africa Food Prize was an enormous recognition for the contribution ICRISAT made in addressing food insecurity and rural poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. The work on sequencing chickpea pan-genome has received worldwide attention. We have also seen very important papers released on the role of millets in addressing micronutrient deficiency and non-communicable disease.”
Reaffirming ICRISAT’s commitment to the drylands, Prof.Pingali mentioned technologies, scientific knowledge and the background that ICRISAT has in drylands research as just some of its strengths for being an independent international research organization. Prof. Pingali recognized the management’s partnership building efforts by listing some new partnerships, including those with FAO and the World Food Programme, and affirmed these partnerships as essential as the institute charts its future course.
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