In an effort to enhance farm productivity and farmers' income, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday released 109 high-yielding, climate-resilient and biofortified seed varieties of agricultural and horticultural crops. Developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), these varieties span 61 crops, including 34 field crops and 27 horticultural crops.
During an event, PM Modi unveiled the seeds at three experimental agriculture plots at Delhi's Pusa Campus, where he also interacted with farmers and scientists. The field crop varieties include cereals, millets, forage crops, oilseeds, pulses, sugarcane, cotton, and fibre crops.
For horticulture, the PM released new varieties of fruits, vegetables, plantation crops, tubers, spices, flowers, and medicinal plants.
It should be noted that PM Modi has advocated for sustainable farming practices and climate-resilient methodologies to bolster farmers' income. He also emphasized the promotion of biofortified crop varieties, linking them to government initiatives like the Mid-Day Meal scheme and Anganwadi services to combat malnutrition in India.
Earlier, Union Minister for Agriculture Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that PM Modi will release the 109 seed varieties in an event in the national capital. They comprise 23 seed varieties of cereals, nine of rice, two of wheat, one of barley, six of maize, one of sorghum, one of millet, one of ragi, one of chheena, one of samba, two of arhar, two of gram, three of lentil, one of peas, two of green gram, seven of oilseeds as well as seven each of fodder and sugarcane, five of cotton, one of jute and 40 varieties of horticulture, Chouhan said.
He added that a special package of Rs 2,625 crore has been given this year as ships carrying fertilizers have to take a longer and time-consuming route due to international conditions.
The special package has been announced to ensure the burden does not fall on the farmer, the former MP chief minister said.
PM Modi interacts with farmers
Prime Minister also interacted with the farmers and scientists on the occasion. Discussing the importance of these new crop varieties, He stressed on the significance of value addition in agriculture. 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.
PM Modi discussed the importance of millets and underlined how people are moving towards nutritious food. He also talked about the benefits of natural farming and the increasing faith of common people towards organic farming, adding that people have started consuming and demanding organic foods. The farmers appreciated the efforts undertaken by the government for promoting natural farming.
Kumaraswamy on Agriculture Ministry
Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy said that he expected that the Agriculture portfolio would be given to him, however, expressed confidence that Shivraj Singh Chouhan would do a "better job".
I expected that the Agriculture portfolio would be given to me. Our Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has worked as the CM of Madhya Pradesh three times. He also knows the problems of the farmers and he will do a better job. He has given full confidence to the farming community that they will get all kinds of strength. People are now expecting a lot from Shivraj Singh Chouhan..." he said.
