Vigilance awareness week (31 October-6 November, 2022) 

As per the directions of Central Vigilance commission of India, Vigilance Awareness Week was celebrated at ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research, Hyderabad from 31^st October to 6^th November, 2022. The theme of this year Vigilance awareness week was “Corruption free India for a developed Nation”- “भ्रष्टाचार मुक्त भारत - विकसित भारत”. The main aim of Vigilance awareness week is to encourage all the stakeholders to collectively participate in preventing corruption in public life. Several awareness programs were organized during this week. It started with vigilance oath and integrity pledge on 31^st October by Dr. R. M. Sundaram, Director, ICAR-IIRR. An essay writing competition was organized on “Integrity and transparency in work place” in the Director’s committee room on 1^st November, 2022. We also organized a special awareness lecture in the Rajendranagar farm office of ICAR-IIRR for the farm labours on various aspects of office duties and responsibilities in local Telugu language and lecture was delivered by Dr. A. V. S. R. Swamy, Principal Scientist, Plant Breeding. We also received several posters (ppt presentation) which were displayed on 4^th November. In the concluding ceremony on 4^th November, 2022, Dr. G. S. Laha, Vigilance officer, ICAR-IIRR briefed about the importance of vigilance awareness week and the activities that were conducted at ICAR-IIRR. Dr. R. M. Sundaram, Director, Indian Institute of Rice Research addressed all the staff of the Institute on various aspects of office rules and responsibilities and urged all the staff to follow the path of honesty and integrity in all official matters. A special lecture (online mode) was delivered on “Duties, responsibilities and office conducts of the employees” by Mr. Saroj Kumar Singh, CAO, ICAR-IISR, Lucknow. The meeting ended with vote of thanks by Dr. G. S. Laha. 

ICAR-IIRR organized Cybersecurity awareness program as a part of Cyber Jaagrookta Divas Annual Day Celebrations on 10.10.2022

As a part of Cyber Jaagrookta Divas Annual Day Celebrations, ICAR-IIRR in association with Pranadhara Foundation, Bapatla organised Cybersecurity Awareness Program through ABCs of information security campaign in Cheruvu Jammula Palem village, Bapatla, Andhra Pradesh on 10.10.2022. Dr. B. Sailaja, Principal Scientist (Computer Applns.) briefed on Cyber safety tips and Dos and Don’ts of using mobiles and computers. Drs. B.Nirmala, Senior Scientist (Economics) and D. Krishnaveni, Principal Scientist(Pathology),ICAR-IIRR, Sri Pundarikakshudu and Sri Kiran Prakash from Pranadhara Foundation, Mrs. Vijaya Nirmala, DDA, FTC, Mrs. Lakshmi, ADA, Bapatla actively participated in the program. About 30 progressive farmers attended this program.

ICAR-IIRR organized ICT based training programs on Improved Rice Production Technology

            An off-campus training program on ‘Improved rice production technology’ was organized at Cheruvu Jammulapalem, Bapatla Mandal, Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh on 10/10/2022. Dr.B.Sailaja, PS(Computer Applns.) explained about the use of ‘Rice mobile app’ developed by ICAR-IIRR. The app was installed on the mobile phones of the farmers. Several applications of the app were discussed with the farmers. Diagnosis of the pests and diseases using the app, was narrated by Dr.D.Krishnaveni, PS(Pathology), ICAR-IIRR. Awareness on the possible solutions after diagnosis by using the app was also created among the farmers. Dr.B.Nirmala, Senior Scientist(Agricultural Economics),ICAR-IIRR elaborated upon the importance of the app in helping to take up timely crop protection measures and for profitable rice production. On 11/10/2022, under ICAR-IIRR-SCSP a similar training program was organized at Etheru village of Bapatla mandal of Andhra Pradesh.  The farmers reported leaf folder incidence in rice. Dr.D.Krishnaveni suggested solutions for the control/management of the leaf folder and IPM strategies. Dr.B.Nirmala emphasized upon the importance of Integrated nutrient management in rice and demonstrated the use of Leaf Color Charts developed by ICAR-IIRR. The LCCs were distributed to the farmers.About 25 farmers attended the program. These ICT based training programs were coordinated by Drs.B.Sailaja, B.Nirmala and D.Krishnaveni.

The ICAR-IIRR, Rajendranagar and VYOMIK, Hyderabad, Telangana signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on 27^th June 2022 to undertake research on the evaluation of various applications of drones to develop Standard Operating Protocols (SOPs) for rice. The objective of this research includes Testing the feasibility and standardization of rice direct seeding using the drone, Evaluation of drone-based pesticide (herbicide, insecticide & Fungicide) and fertilisers (nano or liquid fertilizers) spray to improve its efficacy, Testing the feasibility of supplementary pollination in hybrid rice using UAV and Mapping of biotic and abiotic stress in rice using drones.