Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday released 109 high-yielding, climate-resilient and biofortified varieties of crops at an event at India Agricultural Research Institute in New Delih.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement, “The Prime Minister interacted with farmers and scientists on the occasion. Discussing the importance of these new crop varieties, the PM stressed the significance of value addition in agriculture. The farmers said these new varieties would be highly beneficial as these would help reduce their expenditure and also have a positive impact on the environment.”
Stressing the importance of millets, Modi said people were moving towards nutritious food. He spoke about the benefits of natural farming and the increasing faith of the common man in organic farming, adding that people had started consuming and demanding organic foods.
The farmers also lauded the role played by Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) in creating awareness. The PM suggested that the KVKs should proactively inform farmers about the benefits of the new varieties being developed every month. The PM lauded the scientists for the development of these new crop varieties.
“Scientists said they had been working in line with the suggestion given by the PM to bring unutilised crops into the mainstream,” the PMO said. The 109 varieties of 61 crops released include 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.
Union Minister for Agriculture, Farmers’ Welfare and Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the PM’s resolve was to increase the income of farmers, increase production and reduce cost.
“The public should get nutritious agricultural products, which keep the body healthy. This is a wonderful example of ‘lab to land’ under which these new varieties are being dedicated to the nation and farmers under the leadership of the PM Modi. The Central Government is committed to realising the vision of India becoming the food basket of the world,” Chouhan added.
