ARDC Bajo convened an activity planning meeting to align its annual work plan with the approved budget for FY 2025–26. The meeting, chaired by the Program Director, was attended by staff from ARDC Bajo and ARDSC Menchhuna.
Discussions focused primarily on the approved budget and its integration into planned activities for the year. Other key agenda items included the Individual Work Plan (IWP) for 2025–26, audit matters, BJA paper, revenue generation, dress code, and the recent MAX moderation exercise.
The Program Director also presented the results of a survey conducted to understand how young employees are engaged in their work. This aligns with the Department of Agriculture’s interest in leveraging the potential of young researchers to meet high expectations and contribute meaningfully to the Centre’s objectives.
On MAX moderation for the FY 2024-25, the Chair clarified that while the results may not change, staff can seek justification and understand the criteria used—such as trial implementation, ROP activities, and nature of assigned tasks. The moderation process, carried out by the Program Director and sector heads, follows set guidelines and aims to be as fair as possible, though force ranking can impact some staff. The Chair encouraged individuals to identify areas for improvement and work towards better outcomes in the future.
In his concluding remarks, the Chair emphasized the importance of adopting a cost-sharing mechanism for seed and seedling distribution, noting that free supply can discourage responsibility. While free provision is acceptable for ROP and research purposes, cost-sharing will be encouraged for other distributions to promote sustainable practices.