2nd International Crop Science Congress

[Vincent]

I'll be brief this time. I suppose the poeple who have been around for a long time already know this, but others might not: the 2^nd International Crop Science Congress, which was celebrated with a 5 rupee coin in 1996, was actually held, it was not cancelled.

Crop Productivity and Sustainability – Shaping the Future – Proceedings of 2nd International Crop Science Congress (1998).

In 1998 a book was published, entitled Crop Productivity and Sustainability – Shaping the Future, with the subtitle Proceedings of 2nd International Crop Science Congress, edited by V. L. Chopra, R. B. Singh and Anupam Varma, and published by Science Publishers in Enfield, New Hampshire, U.S.A. The series of congresses known as the International Crop Science Congresses are organised at the behest of the International Crop Science Society. So, let's put to rest this idea that the congress in New Delhi in 1996 was cancelled.
   The idea that the congress was cancelled is a very widespread urban legend. I believed it myself until I learned otherwise by reading about the crop science commemorative coin on the CoinsOfRepublicIndia blog and decided to investigate. The urban legend may have arisen as a more or less reasonable explanation for the scarcity of the coin. The 5 rupee commemorative coins that came before this one were minted in large quantities, so the scarcity of this one had to have som kind of explanation. We know now that the congress was held, but the coin was only minted in very limited quantity.

[Figleaf]

Fun discovery, Vincent. I am somewhat puzzled that this book appeared two years after the congress. If there would have been a last minute cancellation, the speakers would have had their notes ready anyway and these could have been used as the basis for the book. Most speakers would have had notes only, though and those would have had to write out their notes into a coherent text. If the congress had been held, the speeches would have been recorded and simply typed out, which would have been much faster. Is there anything in the book that says the conference was actually held?

I looked at what happened in India in 1996. It was a politically tumultuous year, but I didn't find anything that could have explained a cancellation, though Michael Jackson's visit comes close At least, I hit upon the amazing story of Phoolan Devi.

Peter

[idiotghost]

The earlier running thread on this topic.

http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php/topic,15400.0.html

[Vincent]

Figleaf, that's a good point. The New Delhi congress could have been cancelled and then the conference could have been convened in 1997 or 1998. I suppose the reason that didn't even cross my mind was that I had already read this on the International Crop Science Society's website:

2nd International Crop Science Congress
New Delhi, India 1996.

Crop productivity and Sustainability – Shaping the Future. Proceedings of the 2nd International Crop Science Congress.(1998) Eds. V.L Chopra, R.B. Singh and Anupam Varma. National Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, India. (ISBN 81-204-1212-5).

(Source: https://www.intlcss.org/congress-proceedings).

I posted this stuff beacause, once you've seen it (the book and related information), you can remove all doubt from your mind about what is actually true about the congress. That's a good place to move forward from.

Thanks for pointing to the other thread, @idiotghost. I leave it to moderators to decide if they should be merged or not.

[Figleaf]

Indeed. They are now 8 years behind with publishing proceedings.

Peter

[dheer]

Things are hard to believe, you tell a lie a hundred times and it becomes truth.
Another aspect is quite a few dealers repeat a story and are not passionate about coins, at times even good dealers are not very well versed with details of the coins or events.