Agro Climate Research Centre (ACRC), Directorate of Crop Management (DCM), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Coimbatore, in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology (DST), organized a workshop celebrating ACRC's Silver Jubilee, the launch of DST-NMSKCC-CoE, and a National Workshop on "Roadmap to Climate Resilient Villages in Tamil Nadu." Dr. M.K. Kalarani, Director, DCM, welcomed distinguished guests, including former ACRC professors, alumni, DST scientists, TNAU faculty and students.
Dr. V. Geethalakshmi, Vice Chancellor of TNAU, Coimbatore, presided the inaugural address, reflecting on ACRC’s 25-year journey and contributions to research and training programs. Dr. P. Balasubramaniam, Director of ODL, TNAU, and Principal Investigator of DST-CoE-CDRA highlighted the DST-NMSKCC-CoE-CDRA project's objectives, emphasizing weather data curation and analytics for climate change assessments. Felicitation addresses were delivered by former ACRC Heads and climate specialists. Dr. N. Maragatham, Dean, Centre for Students' Welfare, recounted ACRC’s evolution. Dr. S.R. Ramanan, former Director of IMD, Chennai, highlighted agriculture’s role during COVID-19 Pandemic. Dr. P. Govindaraj, Director, Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, discussed the impact of extreme weather events on sugarcane cultivation, affecting yields, exports, and ethanol production. Dr. N. Balasubramani, CC&AD, MANAGE, Hyderabad, stressed weather forecasting’s role in stabilizing agricultural yields. Dr. T.N. Balasubramanian, Founder of ACRC, underscored forecasting’s importance for farmers and policymakers. Dr. Swati Jain and Dr. Susheela Devi Negi from DST highlighted the necessity of climate-resilient villages. Dr. Anita Gupta, Advisor & Head, CEST, DST, emphasized state and national preparedness against global warming, mentioning two key missions of DST. She stressed R&D and outreach training in achieving sustainable goals. Dr. R. Jagannathan, Vice Chancellor of Periyar University, Salem, highlighted real-time weather data collection for accurate forecasting and domain-specific agro-advisories. The event saw participation from DST scientists, university officers, faculty, and students in-person and online. Dr. N.K. Sathyamoorthy, Professor & Head, ACRC, TNAU, delivered the vote of thanks, acknowledging all attendees and contributors.