Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday unveiled 109 high-yielding, climate-resilient, and biofortified crop varieties at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in New Delhi. The event marked a major step forward in boosting India’s agricultural productivity and sustainability.
During the ceremony, PM Modi interacted with farmers and scientists, emphasizing the importance of value addition in agriculture. Farmers present at the event expressed optimism about the new varieties, noting their potential to reduce expenses and positively impact the environment.
The Prime Minister highlighted the growing trend towards nutritious food, particularly millets. He suggested that Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) should proactively inform farmers about the benefits of new varieties being developed monthly to enhance awareness.
The released varieties span 61 crops, including 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 and Farmers’ Welfare, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, addressing the media, called the day significant for farmers. He emphasized that these new varieties are climate-friendly and nutritionally rich, exemplifying the “lab to land” program.
Chouhan assured that farmers would receive seeds from all 109 varieties within three years.
Additionally, he said that imports of exotic mango varieties are not currently necessary because our own variety is more productive, more aesthetically pleasing, and has superior keeping qualities, all of which can increase farmers’ income.
PM Modi proposed a monthly interaction between farmers and experts from KVKs, ICAR, and state agricultural universities to address current agricultural issues and find solutions through mutual learning.
The event was attended by Ministers of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Bhagirath Choudhary and Ram Nath Thakur, along with Dr. Himanshu Pathak, DG ICAR & Secretary, DARE, and other officials from ICAR.
