- Wednesday, May 01, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (28) launched 35 crop varieties with special traits that have been developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to address the twin challenges of climate change and malnutrition.
The crop varieties were dedicated to the nation through a video conference which was organised at all ICAR institutes, state and central agricultural universities and Krishi Vigyan Kendra.
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According to the prime minister’s office, the 35 crop varieties with special traits like climate resilience and higher nutrient-content have been developed this year. They 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, quinoa, buckwheat, etc.
These crop varieties also include those that address anti-nutritional factors found in some crops that adversely affect both human and animal health.
Speaking on the occasion, Indian agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar said 86 per cent of farmers in the country are small farmers and the prime minister’s focus has been on enhancing their income.
The PM believes that farmers should not be dependent on compassion of others, but should rise on their own strength. For this, several schemes like PM-KISAN and transport facilities through Kisan rails have been launched to empower them, Tomar said.
Bhupesh Baghel, the chief minister of the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh and a member of the opposition Indian National Congress, thanked Modi for inaugurating the newly constructed campus of the National Institute of Biotic Stress Tolerance, Raipur, the state’s capital. He said the institute will promote agriculture in the state.
“Climate change is a cause of concern across the world. We are seeing its impact in our area. There are two reasons — one is natural and the other one is reduction in carbon in soil,” he said, stressing on conducting an extensive study to ascertain the impact of climate change in the country.
