Speaking on the new varieties developed by the ICAR Union Agriculture Minister, Narendra Kumar Tomar said that States should use new varieties of seeds for better production of summer crops. The Minister also asked States to plan in advance for their fertilizers needs and provide estimates to the center so that the fertilizer department can provide sufficient fertilizers timely.
Addressing the National conference on Agriculture for Summer Campaign 2021-22 through video-conferencing, he also suggested that States should increase the use of NPK and liquid urea and reduce the dependence on DAP fertilizers.
Regarding training to the farmers, the Agriculture Minister asked Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) and Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) to jointly conduct the essential training for the small and marginal farmers so that new technology and knowledge reach the grassroots level.
In spite of a difficult time due to Covid, the country produced 3086.47 lakh tonnes of food grains during 2020-21 (4th Advance Estimates), which will be an all-time record. Pulses and oilseed production has also achieved all time high at 257.19 and 361.01 lakh tonnes, respectively.
Production of cotton is estimated at 353.84 lakh bales with which India is set to rise to the first position in the world. On the production and productivity fronts, the horticulture sector has also outperformed conventional food grain crops.
He said that said that summer crops not only provide extra income but also create employment opportunities in between Rabi and Kharif for the farmers thereby increasing crop intensity. The Government has taken new initiatives through various programmes for cultivation of summer crops such as pulses, coarse cereals, nutri-cereals, and oilseeds.
Though more than half of cultivated area in summer is under pulses, oilseeds and nutri-cereals, the farmers with irrigation source are growing rice and vegetables during the summer season. He highlighted that the area under cultivation of zaid crops including rice has increased progressively 2.7 times from 29.71 lakh hectares in 2017-18 to 80.46 lakh hectares in 2020-21.
Kailash Choudhary, MoS for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare told the states that special focus is now given to increase production of oilseeds and pulses and make the country self-reliant. Regarding the promotion of organic and natural farming, Choudhary advised States to send proposals to certify the entire block or area as organic/natural farming block so that farmers who belong to that area need not apply for certificate individually. He also asked States to provide a market for organic farmers.
