The Quinquennial Review Team visit was held at ICAR-IISR during 17-19 January. The review team chaired by Dr. Parvinder Kaushal, Vice Chancellor, Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali Uttarakhand University of Horticulture & Forestry, Bharsar, Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand included Dr. SK Pandey, Former Director, ICAR-CPRI Shimla; Prof. V. Palanimuthu, Director, NIFTEM Thanjavur; Dr. Yaduraju NT, Former Director ICAR-Directorate of Weed Research Jabalpur; and Dr. SK Sharma, Former Director, ICAR-CIAH Bikaner. The QRT reviewed the progress on research and development activities pertaining to both ICAR-IISR and the All India Coordinated Research Program on Spices (AICRPS) for the period of 01.04.2018-31.03.2023.
The team began their visit by seeing the labs and facilities of the organization and having discussions with the scientists. The official proceedings began with an overview of institutes achievements by Dr. R Dinesh, Director, ICAR-IISR. Dr. D Prasath gave a brief summary about the achievements and work done under the AICRP on Spices. The QRT members reviewed the action taken report by the institution on the previous QRT and gave insightful comments. The team visited the IISR Experimental Farm, Peruvannamuzhi, KVK Kozhikode and IISR Regional Station, Appangala on the consecutive days of the visit.
Ten new publications by the institute, including extension pamphlets in Hindi, Malayalam, and English were released by the QRT Chairman during the inaugural session. Five new license agreements were also signed and handed over to the licensees. This includes two commercial planting material production licenses for IISR Chandra, the new black pepper variety and the remaining licenses were for the Microbial encapsulation technology (A novel Method of storing and delivering PGPR/ Microbes through biocapsules) Apart from these, two value-added products developed by our incubatees: Spice-flavored Millet Cookies and Moringa-based health supplements (Moringa Leaf Capsule) was also launched by the QRT members.
