ICAR- Central Institute for Women in Agriculture (ICAR-CIWA), Bhubaneswar celebrated its foundation day on 17th  February, 2016. On this occasion, Prof. P. P. Mathur, vice-Chancellor, KIIT University, KISS, Bhubaneswar was the Chief Guest. Smt. Sujata R. Karthikeyan, Commission-cum-Director, Odisha Watershed Development Mission, Bhubaneswar and Dr. S. K. Ambast, Director, ICAR- Indian Institute of Water Management, Bhubaneswar were Guest of Honour. The programme was attended by more than 100 farm women from adopted villages of ICAR-CIWA and more than 50 delegates from different ICAR institutes, state departments and media personnel.

Prof. P. P. Mathur, Chief Guest along with Guests of Honour lighted the lamp and inaugurated the function. Dr. Jatinder Kishtwaria, Director, ICAR-CIWA delivered welcome address, briefed about the genesis and achievements of the institute over two decades. She highlighted the potential of the institute as it is one of its kind working on Women in agriculture globally. She also asked for better collaboration and co-ordination between the research teams and the government. Dr. S. K. Ambast mentioned the importance of drudgery reduction and efficient use of natural resource management for improving the condition of the farm women. Smt. Sujata R. Karthikeyan enlightened the audience underlining the significance of reaching out the farm women since they constitutes half of the population. She highlighted on tailor made programs for empowerment of women SHG.

Prof. P. P. Mathur, Chief Guest started with congratulating the institute for celebrating its foundation day and wished luck for the future of the institute. He also suggested for development of women friendly need based technologies and to promote policies in this field.

Various ICAR-CIWA publications were released and prizes were distributed to mark the occasion followed by vote of thanks by Dr. S. K. Srivastava, Principal Scientist, ICAR-CIWA, Bhubaneswar. The programme was followed by a brain storming session on "Gender Issues in Agriculture in changing development scenario" in which the experts from ICAR/SAU have highlighted the gender issues in agricultural sectors and suggested the strategies to bridge the gap. Simultaneously, a Scientist-Farmers Interface was also organised to address the constraints faced by farm women and provide workable solutions in farming. The experts Dr. Naresh Babu, Dr. Sabita Mishra, Dr. B. Sahoo and Dr. Jyoti Nayak from ICAR-CIWA had answered the queries raised by the farm women during the interface. Dr. H. K. Dash and Dr. Arun K. Panda, Principal Scientists of the institute played pivotal role in organizing the programme.