Bengaluru, November 25 (Karnataka News) :
The Watershed Development Department, Government of Karnataka, Department of Land Resources, Government of India, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore and the World Bank jointly The International Conference on “Watershed Resilience: Science, Sustainability and Social Integration” was organized for three days from November 26 to 28 at the Four Seasons Hotel, Bengaluru.
The conference is being attended by around 175 delegates representing global experts, policymakers, researchers and development professionals.
The event will be inaugurated by Agriculture Minister N. Chaluvarayaswamy and presided over by Urban Development Minister Bairati Suresh. The Chief Guest will be Manoj Joshi, Secretary, Department of Land Resources, Government of India.
Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Labour and Employment Shobha Karandlaje, Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka Dr. Shalini Rajneesh, Joint Secretary, Department of Land Resources (Watershed Management), Government of India Nitin Khade,
Dr. Principal Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Government of Karnataka. Selva Kumar S. Dr. SV Suresha, Vice Chancellor of Bangalore Agricultural University and Mr. Ando Goodland, a leading agricultural expert of World Bank will be present. Other senior officials and policymakers are expected to participate in the technical session of the conference.
The three-day conference will focus on global innovations in watershed management, digital public infrastructure for agriculture, land resourcesPlanning and evaluation of soil and hydrological activities using exploration data, climate-resilient land management, community participation And there will be keynote speeches, technical presentations, and policy dialogues on the role of the private sector in data-driven watershed transformation.Dr. Stanford Blade (ICRISAT), Dr. Giovanni Ruta (World Bank, East Asia and the Pacific), Dr. Asim Bismas (University of Guelph, Canada), Dr. Gilles Boulay (University of Toulouse, France) and international experts such as Mr. Cheik Amadou Tidiane Dia (World Bank, Congo) will share best practices in watershed management that have been proven globally.
The current World Bank Reward project includes land resource exploration data-based planning, hydrological interventions and evidence-based monitoring, A one-day field visit is planned to the Maidalakere watershed in Tumkur district, where the project is being implemented.This conference aims to strengthen science, policy and community integration action and contribute to national level projects like PMKSY 3.0.
It also enables the activation of sustainable and climate resilient watershed development practices in various watersheds in India and the world.
