The seminar is jointly sponsored by the Government of India through its Ministry of Earth Science and Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation; Indian Council of Social Sciences and Research; Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development. World-renowned agriculture scientist Dr. Gurdev Singh Khush from the United States has consented to inaugurate the seminar. Dr Khush is a renowned Agronomist cum Geneticist of Indian origin who has been honoured with World Food Prize along with mentor Dr Henery Beachell 1996 for his achievements in enhancing and improving the global supply of rice during the time of exponential population growth. He has been awarded the prestigious Japan Science Prize from Japan Centre for Science and Technology in 1987; Rank Prize in 1998 and Wolf Prize in agriculture from Israel in 2000. He has received honorary doctorate degrees from ten universities, the latest being from Ohio State University.

Dr. Khush has made outstanding contributions to advancing the frontiers of rice genetics. He has trained numerous plant breeders and served as consultant to several national rice improvement programs. He was elected to the Indian National Science Academy, Third World Academy of Sciences, U.S. National Academy of and Royal Society of London.Dr. Ashok Gulati former Director in Asia of Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and is now Chairman, Commission for Agriculture and Cost Prices, Government of India, and is known to not restrain himself in finding faults with government policies.

Another major participant in the seminar will be Dr. Gulati, who has been a staunch exponent of sweeping reforms in the Indian agricultural system, and is in favour of freeing agricultural marketing from all controls. Dr Gulati has been a formidable critic of the agricultural policies followed by the governments at the Centre, including the present United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, headed by Manmohan Singh. That his criticism is usually constructive in nature is, of course, a different matter. During his long professional career, Gulati has worked mostly with organizations where people are not bound by the kind of intellectual discipline that the government think tanks are normally subjected to.

Dr. Joyashree Roy from Jadavpur University, Kolkata will deliver the key note address. She has initiated and leads a number of research projects. Major ones are the Global Change Programme of Jadavpur University, which she currently coordinates, and the Nippon Foundation endowed long term SYLFF Project at Jadavpur university which she directs, and whose research programme is entitled 'Tradition, Social Change and Sustainable Development: A Holistic Approach.' She worked in the Environmental Technology and Energy Division at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, California as Ford Foundation Post Doctoral Fellow on Environmental Economics. Dr. Roy has traveled widely for her extensive research collaboration in the fields of resources, energy, environment, and climate change, and she has been in the coordinating lead author's team of several global initiatives to determine the status of knowledge in global climate change research.

The seminar will be organized in six different technical sessions to be chaired by Er. R K Khanna, former Chief Engineer, CWC of Government of India; Professor Sheikh Md. Monzurul HuqDepartment of Geography and Environment, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka Bangladesh; Dr. Rais Ahmad, Department of Agricultural Economics & Business Management Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh; Prof (em). Neelambar Hatti Department of Economic History, Lund University Sweden and Dr. Ana Hozyainova Director of Research Afghanistan Public Policy Research Organization Kabul, Afghanistan. Dr. K. Palanisami from International Water Management Institute; Dr Ravinderpal Singh Malik from IWMI; Mr. R. K. Khanna, Former Chief Engineer, Central Water Commission, New Delhi, Dr Sujana Dhar from TIER New Delhi, Dr Veena Khanduri from India Water Partnership and Dr. Mahendra Singh Pal from Pantnagar will present their sectionals key note papers.