Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar appealed to all agriculture institutes to focus on producing good farmers. He said Institutes are producing very talented teachers and scientists which is commendable. Because of this knowledge and technology remain limited to the institutes only.
If institutes produce farmers then they can bring this knowledge to the grassroots level. He also exhorted the students for entrepreneurship development and appealed for taking up farming as a profession.
He handed over awards and degrees to the 284 students, which includes 8 foreign students, of the Post Graduate School of ICAR-Indian Agriculture Research Institute, New Delhi.
On the occasion, Tomar also dedicated 6 varieties of fruits and vegetables to the nation viz., two varieties of mango Pusa Lalima, Pusa Shresth, brinjal variety Pusa Vaibhav, palak variety PusaVilayati palak, cucumber variety Pusa Gynoecious Cucumber Hybrid-18 and Pusa Alpana variety of rose. The bio-fertilizer ‘PUSA Sampoorn’ developed by the division of Microbiology was also released.
Highlighting the government priorities in the field of agricultural research, Tomar said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is placed among the top 10 Agri products exporting countries. “We aim to put India among the top 5 countries and I am sure that with the efforts and research of our agriculture institutes, India will achieve it very soon”, he added.
Speaking on implementing the use of drone technology for the benefit of farmers and employment generation for various stakeholders, the Agriculture Minister said that the government is giving 100% as a grant for the purchase of drones to agriculture institutes so that the technology can be taught in the institutes. He also said that Agriculture graduates are also eligible to receive grant support for drone purchases.
The Minister advised the new graduates to see this as a huge opportunity in the field of drone technology. He appreciated the significant contributions made by the institute for ensuring food and nutritional security through the development of superior varieties and technologies in the field of Agriculture.
