In an effort to increase agricultural productivity and revenue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday unveiled 109 high-yielding, climate-resilient, and biofortified seed varieties. 61 crop varieties have been developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), comprising 34 field crops and 27 horticultural crops.
PM Modi unveiled the seeds at three experimental agricultural plots at Delhi’s Pusa Campus, where he engaged with the farmers and scientists.
PM Modi suggested Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK) and Farm experts to productively engage with farmers about the benefit and importance of the varieties as it will help them to tackle current agricultural issues and help to reduce their expenditure and increase farm productivity.
New Crop Varieties
Cereals, millets, oilseeds, pulses, sugarcane, cotton, and fiber crops are among the variety of field crops.
For horticultural crops, PM Modi released new varieties of fruits, vegetables, flowers, plantation crops, spices, tubers and medicinal plants.
Sustainable Practice
This effort is an aspect of the government’s continuous initiatives to improve the productivity of agriculture, promote sustainable agriculture methods, and tackle the country’s nutritional challenges.
PM Modi emphasized the importance of implementing sustainable farming techniques and climate-resilient methods to enhance farmer’s earnings. He emphasized the promotion of biofortified crop varieties to address malnutrition, connecting them with government programs such as the Mid Day Meal scheme and Anganwadi programs.
Agricultural Minister on the importance of seed varieties
Union Minister for Agriculture Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that PM Modi will release the 109 high yielding seed varieties on an occasion in Delhi. It comprise 23 seed varieties of cereal, one of barley, one of sorghum, one of peas, one of millet, one of samba, one of ragi, one of chheena, two of greengram, two of arhar, three of lentil, six of maize, seven of oilseeds as well as seven each of fodder and sugarcane and nine of rice. 40 types of horticulture, one of jute, five of cotton, and so on, said Chouhan.
Chouhan said that a special package of Rs 2,625 crore has been announced this year as ships carrying fertilizers which will take a longer time due to international conditions.
According to the former MP chief minister, the special package has been announced to ensure that the cost is not borne by farmers.
ICAR’S Innovation and Technology Drive
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman declared the introduction of these 109 new kinds on July 23 during her budget presentation. The ICAR regularly releases new, enhanced seed types, spurring technological advancement and innovation to sustain agri-productivity while taking changing biotic and abiotic stressors into account.
During 2014-15 to 2023-24, ICMR recorded a total of 2,593 high-yielding varieties releases.
These varieties include 2,177 climate resilient (83%of total) with biotic and abiotic stress resistance, and 150 biofortified ones.
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