New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched 35 crop varieties with special traits — developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) — to address the twin challenges of climate change and malnutrition.
The new crop varieties were dedicated to the nation through a video conference organised at all ICAR institutes, state and central agricultural universities and Krishi Vighyan Kendra.
During the virtual ceremony, Modi also inaugurated the newly constructed campus of the National Institute of Biotic Stress Tolerance (NIBST), Raipur.
He also distributed the ‘Green Campus Award’ to four agricultural universities and interacted with farmers who use innovative methods, before addressing a gathering.
The crop varieties have been developed keeping in mind different kinds of problems faced in the farm sector. Some crop varieties are meant for areas facing less water and some for areas suffering from crop diseases, he said.
In the last six-seven years, the government has used science and technology on priority basis to solve challenges faced in the agriculture sector, he said, adding that focus is developing seeds with high nutrition content and adaptability to new conditions, especially climate change.
Talking about biotic stress caused due to climate change, the Prime Minister said Raipur-based NIBST will conduct research on ways to address biotic stress on the farm sector. The manpower will be trained to come out with solutions, thereby promoting the agriculture sector and farmers’ income.
About 35 crop varieties with special traits like climate resilience and higher nutrient-content were developed by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) this year.
These include a drought tolerant variety of chickpea, wilt and sterility mosaic resistant pigeonpea, early maturing variety of soybean, disease resistant varieties of rice and biofortified varieties of wheat, pearl millet, maize and chickpea, quinoa, buckwheat, winged bean and faba bean.
These special trait crop varieties also include those that address the anti-nutritional factors found in some crops that adversely affect human and animal health.
Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Poultry Parshottam Rupala, Ministers of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary and Shobha Karandlaje, and former-CM of Chhattisgarh Raman Singh were present in the event.
