PM push for high-yielding, biofortified crops
Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled 109 high-yielding, climate-resilient, and biofortified crop varieties at Delhi’s Pusa Campus, aiming to boost farm productivity and farmer income. Developed by ICAR, the varieties include 34 field crops and 27 horticultural crops, such as cereals, pulses, oilseeds, fruits, vegetables, and medicinal plants. Modi emphasized value addition in agriculture and the importance of millets. The new seeds are designed to improve yield, reduce costs, and perform well under adverse weather conditions.
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi released 109 high-yielding, climate-resilient and biofortified varieties of 61 crops, including 34 field crops and 27 horticultural crops.
The government’s decision aims to enhance farm productivity and farmers’ income.
Developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), these varieties span 61 crops, including 34 field and 27 horticultural crops.
Modi unveiled the seeds at three experimental agriculture plots at Delhi’s Pusa Campus, where he also interacted with farmers and scientists.
Among the field crops, seeds of various cereals including millets, forage crops, oilseeds, pulses, sugarcane, cotton, fibre and other potential crops were released. Among the horticultural crops, different varieties of fruits, vegetable crops, plantation crops, tuber crops, spices, flowers and medicinal crops were released.
The PM lauded the scientists for the development of these varieties. “These seeds are the best example of a lab-to-land programme,” said Modi.
Among the crops released by Modi are 23 cereals, 11 pulses, seven oilseeds, and 40 varieties of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and medicinal plants.
Scientists associated with these high-yielding varieties of crops said there are nine rice seeds, two wheat seeds, six Maize seeds, two pigeon pea and chickpea, and three lentil seeds. To increase the output of oilseeds, the government released two soybean and two groundnut oil seeds.
Among fruits are three mango varieties, two guava, and one pomegranate, and among vegetables, two tomatoes and Indian beans, one each of bottle gourd and okra.
In his interaction with farmers, Modi stressed the significance of value addition in agriculture. He also discussed the importance of millets and underlined how people are moving towards nutritious food.
According to an official statement, Modi stressed the significance of value addition in agriculture while discussing the importance of these new varieties with farmers.
The farmers said that these new varieties would be highly beneficial to them because of a lower input cost.
The farmers lauded the role played by Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK) in creating awareness.
Later addressing the media, the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the new seed varieties would help increase farmers’ income, enhance production and reduce costs. “The seeds of these crops are climate-friendly, can yield good crops even in adverse weather, and are rich in nutrition,” said Chouhan.
Modi suggested that the KVKs proactively informed farmers about the benefits of the new varieties being developed every month to create awareness, the statement said.
Since 2014, Modi has advocated for sustainable farming practices and climate-resilient methodologies to bolster farmers’ income.
Source Link : https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2024/Aug/12/pm-push-for-high-yielding-biofortified-crops
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