The Bhoovigyan Vikas Foundation is a Consortium of Earth Sciences registered as a professional association under the Societies Registration Act 1860. It has been founded to bring together all earth science professionals to work towards the common goal of ‘saving our planet’ through various activities designed to achieve sustainable development. Towards this end, it works in association with government and non-government agencies as well as people’s organisation at all levels- local, regional, national and international- and also acts as an independent clearing house for the exchange of ideas and activities, providing a constant flow of information, advice and encouragement.
The 2nd International Conference on Sustainable Agriculture, Water Resources Development and Earth Care Policies was organized during 18-20 December,2002 at SCOPE Convention Centre, New Delhi by the Bhoovigyan Vikas Foundation.
NIC played an important role during the event and hosted a Pre-Conference Tutorial on ‘Fusion of Technologies for sustainable Agricultural Development’ for two days prior to the conference at NIC Headquarters. A number of NIC Officers working in the area of Agricultural Informatics formed a part of the organizing committee which had Dr. N Vijayaditya, DG (NIC) as its Chairperson and Sh. M. Moni, DDG (NIC) as the Secretary-General.
The Conference
The first UN conference on the ‘Human Environment’ held at Stockholm in 1972 aroused global consciousness on ecology, environment and poverty. Over thirty years later now, the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), would be meeting in late August ,2003 at Johannesburg, South Africa focussing in five specific areas- Water, Energy, Health, Agriculture and Biodiversity (WEHAB). The Second International Conference of the Bhoovigyan Vikas Foundation, closely following on the heels of the WSSD, was held with an aim to discuss important issues pertaining to Sustainable Agriculture, Water Resources Development and Earth-Care Policies.
The conference attended by a host of National and International experts in the area of sustainable development, included key technical and plenary sessions on important issues, such as drinking water supply, sustainable agriculture and rural livelihood, bio-technology in developing countries, bio-diversity, strategies for globalisation in agriculture sector etc.
The Pre-Conference Tutorial
One of the highlights of the event was the pre-conference tutorial on ‘Fusion of Technologies for sustainable Agricultural Development’ organized by National Informatics Centre. The tutorial was organized to further the mission of The National Agricultural Policy-2000 (NAP-2000) which envisaged application of frontier technologies such as information technology, bio-technology, remote sensing technology, pre and post-harvest technology, energy saving technology, technology for environmental protection through national research system as well as proprietary research. Information & Communication Technology (ICT), Bio-Technology and Environment Technology are viewed as "the drivers" of globalisation, with their complementarities of liberalisation, privatisation and tighter Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).
The tutorial was organized on the premise that though various State Governments have recognised the "Convergence of Core Technologies and E-Governance" as the tool for sustainable development and globalisation of economy, they have to realize that an agrarian society needs a-governance (agriculture-governance) to make India a first-rate economy. Developments in enabling technologies such as Geomatics which is the synergy of multiple disciplines namely: GIS, Remote Sensing, Image Processing, GPS, Cartography, Database Technology, Statistics, Operations Research, Artificial Intelligence, and other Geo-related sciences, facilitate "Informatics-led Agricultural Development" which will be a step towards precision agriculture in India. Thus, recognising the importance of "Fusion of technologies for synergising development and growth", the Organising Committee of the conference organised the Pre-Conference Tutorial for the benefit of Researchers, Scientists, Extension Professionals, Administrators, Economists, Development Planners and Academicians. The event included talks and discussions on key issues by eminent speakers and subject experts.
Book Release
Another highlight of the conference was the release of books on subjects related to sustainable development and other sub-themes of the conference. The proceedings of the Earth Day celebrations and International Conference on Sustainable Development and Sustainable Lifestyles held in April,2001 in the form of a book titled "Sustainable Development and Sustainable Lifestyles" written by Sh. M. Moni , DDG, NIC along with Sh.K.V Sundaram, the Founder Chairman of Bhoovigyan Vikas Foundation were also released during the occasion by Union Minister for Science and Technology Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi.
The Awards
The prestigious Bhoovigyan Awards, instituted by the Bhoovigyan Vikas Foundation, were also presented to the eminent earth scientists and technologists during the event, to honour their significant contribution towards the cause. Dr. A Mohan, Principal Systems Analyst, NIC, received the "Bhoovigyan Leadership Award" for professional skills and expertise in the application of Informatics tools for development planning and GIS/RES Applications for decentralised planning.