Prime Minister Narendra Modi released 109 high yielding, climate resilient and biofortified varieties of crops at India Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi on August 11, 2024, informed Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, PIB.
On the occasion, Prime Minister also interacted with the farmers and scientists discussing the importance of these new crop varieties. He highlighted the importance of millets and underlined how people are moving towards nutritious food and stressed on the significance of value addition in agriculture. PM then suggested that KVKs should proactively inform farmers about the benefits of the new varieties being developed every month to enhance awareness about their benefits.
Additionally, PM proposed that on one day of each month, experts from KVK, ICAR, and state agricultural universities engage with farmers with the goal to tackle a current issue related to agriculture and attempt to identify answers through mutual learning.
The farmers said that these new varieties will be highly beneficial as they will help reduce their expenditure and also have a positive impact on the environment and appreciated the efforts undertaken by the government for promoting natural farming.
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The 109 varieties of 61 crops released by the Prime Minister included 34 field crops and 27 horticultural crops. 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.
Chouhan said that the seeds of these crops are climate friendly and can yield good crop even in adverse weather. He also informed that these varieties are rich in nutrition and the program is held was the best example of lab to land program.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan in response to inquiries from the media, declared that within three years, farmers will receive seeds from all 109 varieties. Additionally, he said that “Imports of exotic mango varieties are not currently necessary because our own variety is more productive, more aesthetically pleasing, and has superior keeping qualities, all of which can increase farmers’ income. All of these types are appropriate for natural farming, and research on this topic is ongoing.”
Union Ministers of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Bhagirath Choudhary and Ram Nath Thakur and DG ICAR& Secretary, DARE, Dr. Himanshu Pathak also graced the occasion along with 30 farmers from nearby state and all the DDGs and other officials of ICAR.
