Visit to CAZRI and AFRI, Jodhpur

VISIT TO CAZRI

An Educational tour was organized by the Department of Botany, The IIS University, Jaipur on 29 March, 2016 to Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI), Jodhpur. The tour was organized for the students of M. Sc (Botany) Semester II. The students were accompanied by two faculty members- Dr. Smita Purohit and Dr. Anuja Joshi. The visit started with a presentation of a documentary film on CAZRI. It showcased various achievements of the institute. The students visited Solar Plant Division where various solar equipments were displayed. Some of them are solar candle making units, solar cookers and solar distillation units. Dr. Manish Mathur, Scientist, CAZRI, escorted the students to Desert Botanical garden of CAZRI. The garden was rich in biodiversity of medicinal plants, Succulents, Bougainvillea, Ephedra , Opuntia etc. The Medicinal plants divisions included various plants like Commiphora wightii (Guggal)-an endangered species The main feature of that garden was the 25 different species of Zizyphus. National Bureau Of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), Jodhpur, is involved with the germplasm conservation of all the crops of Rajasthan and Gujarat states. Dr. Om Veer Singh, Principle Scientist, NBPGR, Jodhpur, escortedto the students to the seed bank where the seeds of various plant species can be stored for 20 years. The visit to CAZRI ended up in the Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory where Dr. Rajwant Kaur Kalia briefed the students about PlantTtissue Culture Techniques.

VISIT TO AFRI

An Educational tour was organized by the Department of Botany, The IIS University, Jaipur on 30 March, 2016 to Arid Zone Forest Research Institute (AFRI), Jodhpur. The tour was organized for the students of M. Sc (Botany) Semester II. The students were accompanied by two faculty members- Dr. Smita Purohit and Dr. Anuja Joshi. Mr. Uma Ram Choudhary, Director Agroforestry and Extension Division, briefed the students with the various research programmes and projects undertaken by  AFRI. Dr. Tarun Kant , Scientist E, AFRI, in Department of Biotechnology and Molecular Biology,escorted the students to the Molecular Biology and Plant Tissue Culture laboratory. Dr. Meeta Sharma, Scientist, AFRI,  briefed the students about the existing  diversity of Lepidopteron Fauna of the Gir Forest,  Gujarat . The visit to AFRI ended up in Nursery of AFRI where tissue culture raised  plants were hardened and acclimatized for field conditions.