Opening remarks by Agriculture Minister Shri Sharad Pawar at Economic Editor’s Conference
Following is the text of opening remarks given by Minister of Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Shri Sharad Pawar at the Economic Editor’s Conference held here today.
I am extremely happy to participate in the Economic Editors’ Conference. This Conference gives me an opportunity to talk to you about the achievements and challenges in the field of agriculture. Your feedback on these issues is important to us for planning future programmes and also to improve the implementation of our existing programmes.
As you know, the year 2008-09 was a very good year for agriculture with an all-time high production of 233.38 million tonnes of foodgrains comprising 117.70 million tonnes of Kharif foodgrains and 116.18 million tonnes of Rabi foodgrains. We achieved these milestones thanks to the efforts of our farmers. Better support from government and new policy and programmatic interventions, sustaining and continuously increasing production and productivity is going to be our challenge for the future.
You are aware that 60% of our net sown area is rainfed. This year’s delayed and deficient monsoon coupled with erratic distribution over most parts of the country and North-West India in particular has had an adverse impact on the production of Kharif crops during 2009-10. This was compounded by a flash flood in parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Major shortfall was noticed in the area sown, around 54 lakh hectares under rice, 3.5 lakh hectares under coarse cereals, 16.5 lakh hectares under oilseeds. Besides the loss of sown area, some of the States also witnessed productivity losses due to erratic rainfall. Preliminary estimates suggest that as compared to last year, production of Kharif rice and oilseeds may decline significantly. Most of the shortfall in Kharif crops is likely to occur in the States of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.
We tried to do our best to protect standing crops. We announced a diesel subsidy for farmers which only Bihar could utilize. Additional power from the Central pool was given to many States. We allowed relaxations in seeds parameters to increase seed availability. Truthfully Labelled seeds were allowed to be used in government programmes. Seed movement was coordinated across the country, particularly for late Kharif and early Rabi. Minikits for Rabi were doubled. The distribution subsidy on seeds for oilseeds, pulses, rice, wheat and maize was enhanced for Rabi 2009-10 in order to reduce the cost of seed to the farmer. The objective was to protect standing crops and ensure that no land remains unsown for want of inputs.
Despite all these measures, the 1st Advance Estimates indicate a shortfall of around 15 million tonnes in rice, 5.5 million tonnes in coarse cereals, 21 million tonnes in foodgrains and 2.5 million tonnes in oilseeds during Kharif 2009-10 as compared to their estimated production during the last year. We have therefore taken measures to augment production in Rabi to partially offset the losses in Kharif. I and my officials are in constant touch with State governments to ensure that they do not face any problem in clearance of schemes and there is sufficient availability of inputs like seeds and fertilizers. Our meetings with State Agriculture Ministers and the Secretaries in-charge of Agriculture of State governments resulted in a renewed commitment by State governments to increase area under Rabi as follows:
Acreage under wheat to be increased by 0.5 million hectares. This along with increase in productivity would lead to increased production of 2 million tonnes of wheat compared to last year.
Acreage under summer/winter/boro rice to be increased by 1.2 to 1.5 million hectares in States like West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Eastern UP. This is expected to result in additional production of about 1 million tonnes.
· Area under Rabi pulses to increase by 1.5 million hectares due to improved soil moisture on account of late monsoon rains. This is expected to result in additional production of about 1 million tonne. Similarly, additional area under oilseeds would also bring about 1.2 million tonnes of additional production.
· Rabi maize and sorghum and summer bajra would bring in 1.5 million tonnes of additional production.
These efforts will result in production of about 8.5 million tonnes of additional foodgrains and 1.5 million tonnes of additional oilseeds during the Rabi season. In addition, improved soil moisture due to late monsoon rains has improved the prospects of Rabi throughout the entire country.
Investment plays a key role for achieving higher growth rate. The plan outlay for the agriculture & allied sector has increased substantially, partly as a result of the introduction of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana(RKVY) which incentivises States to increase the percentage share of State Plan expenditure in agriculture & allied sector. It is important to note that in recent years there has been an increase in the gross capital formation in agriculture as a proportion of agriculture GDP at 1999-2000 prices from 11.1 percent in 2003-04 to 14.24 percent in 2007-08. We have stepped up the allocation under RKVY from Rs.3165 crores last year to Rs.4100 crores this year.
Price signals are an extremely effective tool for increasing agricultural production and productivity. We have been consistently providing substantial increases in minimum support prices of foodgrains so that farmers get remunerative prices for their produce. MSP for wheat was increased from Rs.630/qtl in 2004 to Rs.1080/qtl in 2009. Similarly, MSP for paddy was increased from Rs.560/qtl to Rs.950/-qtl for the same period. We have announced a bonus of Rs.50/qtl for paddy for the Kharif season. Increase in MSP has encouraged farmers to grow more foodgrains which has resulted in record procurement of wheat and rice during the last two years.
The National Food Security Mission (NFSM) was launched in 2007-08 to enhance the production of rice, wheat and pulses by 10 million tonnes, 8 million tonnes and 2 million tonnes respectively by the end of the 11th Plan. Allocation for the scheme for 2009-10 has been stepped up from Rs.1100 crores to Rs. 1350 crore. The Mission has helped to widen the food basket of the country with significant contributions coming from the NFSM districts.
The Macro Management of Agriculture Scheme has been revised and redefined to avoid overlapping and duplication of efforts of the States and to make it more relevant to the present agricultural scenario to achieve the basic objective of food security and to improve the livelihood system for rural masses. The Scheme comprises 10 sub-schemes relating to crop production and natural resource management.
The per capita consumption and import of vegetable oils has witnessed a surge in recent times. Efforts are being made by the Government to increase the production of oilseeds & pulses and oil palm in the country to meet the rising demand through implementation of Centrally Sponsored Integrated Scheme of Oilseeds, Pulses, Oil Palm and Maize (ISOPOM) and other schemes. As a result there has been a record production of 29.75 million tonnes of oilseeds in the country during 2007-08. The production of oilseeds has been recorded at 28.16 million tonnes during 2008-09. A target of 31.60 million tonnes of oilseeds production has been fixed for 2009-10.
To upgrade the quality of farmer-saved seed, financial assistance is provided under the ‘Seed Village Programme.’ So far, about 65,000 villages have been covered under this scheme and another 65,000 villages are expected to be covered under this scheme during the current year. Thus, the Seed Village programme will result in increased availability of about 2.20 lakh quintals of improved seeds to the farmers.
We have liberalized seed import and export regulations with the intention to develop the country into a major seed production and export centre. We encourage States to obtain accreditation of seed testing laboratories from the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA). We also plan to participate in OECD Seed Schemes, recognized worldwide for varietal certification of seeds for international trade.
Reforms in agriculture marketing is an important area to which government attaches a lot of significance. The country is short of post-harvest and market infrastructure both in terms of quality and quantity. The government have announced a 100% depreciation for the private sector for cold-chain and warehousing storage of agricultural products. In addition, we have launched a Terminal Markets Scheme where subsidy upto maximum extent of Rs.50.00 crores is allotted for setting up of modern terminal markets. In addition, our scheme of supporting rural godowns continues with a subsidy element of 25%.
I believe that availability of agricultural credit on time is an important input for farmers in India. We stepped up availability of agricultural credit from Rs.18045 crore in 2005-06 to Rs.287149 crore in 2008-09. A target of Rs. 3,25,000 crore has been kept for disbursement of crop loans this year. An interest subvention of 2% is being provided by government for short-term agricultural credit. In addition, a 1% interest subvention for prompt repayments has also been announced as a new incentive this year. This will take the effective rate of interest for short-term credit to farmers to 6%. A campaign to issue Kisan Credit Cards has been launched in all States. Upto July 2009, 8.53 crore credit cards have been issued to enable farmers to access credit easily from banks.
The year 2008-09 witnessed a spurt in the prices of food articles. However, the overall availability of essential commodities have generally remained satisfactory. Inflation in food articles is a matter of concern and the Government of India have taken several steps to arrest the increase in prices of these commodities.
Our main concern is to ensure the availability of foodgrains for the public distribution system so that the impact of inflation on the common man is minimised. The increase in foodgrains production has been matched by increased procurement for the Central pool. Wheat procurement in 2008-09 and 2009-10 was 226.89 lakh tonnes and 253.81 lakh tonnes respectively. As a result of record procurement during the last two years, the Central pool stock of wheat as on 1.10.2009 was 284.57 lakh tonnes. Similarly, there was record procurement of 284.93 lakh tonnes and 333.07 lakh tonnes of rice in 2007-08 and 2008-09 respectively. In 2009-10 we expect to procure 260 lakh tonnes of rice. As on 29.10.2009, the procurement of rice is 76.99 lakh tonnes compared to 75.31 lakh tonnes on the same date last year. Government has a stock 153.49 lakh tonnes of rice in the Central pool as on 1.10.2009. We expect that we will be able to fully meet the demand of the public distribution system and other welfare schemes.
Government has also taken a number of other steps to improve domestic availability of essential commodities and moderate inflation by–
Allocating 10 lakh tonnes of wheat and 5 lakh tonnes of rice has been made to various States under Open Market Sale Scheme. Under this scheme, State governments will be given wheat by FCI at MSP plus freight charges;
Reducing/waiving import duties for rice, wheat, pulses, edible oils, sugar, maize and refined/hydrogenated oils and vegetable oils;
Allowing import of raw/white/refined sugar at zero duty without levy obligation;
Banning export of edible oils and pulses;
Imposing stock limits;
Distributing 1 million tonne of imported edible oils to States/UTs at a subsidy of Rs.15/kg;
Provision of Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane to provide reasonable margin to farmers on account of risk and profit. State governments have been discouraged from announcing State Advised Prices (SAP) by making them bear financial impact of the difference between FRP and SAP.
Permitting Public Sector Undertakings were permitted to import and sell pulses under a scheme in which losses would be reimbursed by the Government;
Distributing imported pulses to State Governments for supply through PDS at a subsidy of Rs.10 per kg;
Releasing of adequate quantities of non-levy sugar and increasing levy sugar percentage from 10% to 20%;
Banning Future Trade in some essential commodities.
The off-take of foodgrains under the Targeted Public Distribution System has increased from 333 lakh tonnes in 2007-08 to 346 lakh tonnes in 2008-09. The targeted safety nets have been strengthened to ensure household food security through additional allocations of foodgrains to States.
Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries sectors play a significant role in supplementing family incomes and generating gainful employment in the rural areas, particularly, among the landless labourers, small and marginal farmers and women. Livestock is the best possible insurance against the vagaries of nature like drought, famine and other natural calamities.
The approach to the 11th Plan envisages an overall growth between 6 to 7 % per annum for the sector, with milk group achieving growth of 5% per annum and meat and poultry achieving growth of 10% per annum. Milk production is estimated to reach 110.00 million tonnes by 2008-09. Government is working on a National Dairy Plan to increase milk production to 180.00 million tonnes by 2021-22.
India ranks 3rd in total egg and fish production and the 2nd in fresh water fish production in the world. During the year 2008-09 the total fish production was 7.13 million tonnes.
We have decided to issue biometric identity cards to marine fishermen. The Department has offered the task of digitization of the data, capturing of biometric details and production of biometric I.D. cards to a consortium of public sector undertakings led by Bharat Electronics Ltd.
To mitigate the shortage of fodder due to drought like situation in the country, the Government has allocated additional 2.52 lakh fodder minikits, over and above 6.8 lakh routinely given to the States for free distribution to the farmers.
Agricultural Research & Education has also played a crucial role in the growth of the agriculture and allied sectors. Major achievements include development of 96 varieties/hybrids of crops including a Bt gene containing cotton variety Bikaneri Narma, and a record production of about 10,000 tonnes of breeder seed of different field crops, release of 3 location specific coconut varieties/hybrids, 3 new potato varieties viz. Kufri Sadabahar, Kufri Khayali and Kufri Giridhari and a unique fungal resistant grape variety Pusa Navrang with red pigmentation in both peel and pulp for juice making, and production of the first cloned buffalo calf.
DARE has also developed cost effective amelioration technologies for waterlogged, salt affected and acid soils. In order to address the issues of impact of climate change on agriculture, a National Institute of Abiotic Stress Management has been established.
8 new Krishi Vigyan Kendras have been added during 2008-09. Provision has been made for e-linking of Krishi Vikas Kendras and for establishment of facilities like mobile diagnostic-cum-exhibition units, soil and water testing labs, rain water harvesting, etc.
DARE has sett up a comprehensive Accreditation system to ensure quality of education, strengthening of infrastructure and faculty improvement in Agricultural Universities, introduction of new courses on skill and entrepreneurship development and introduction of international fellowships to develop competent human resource and showcasing the strength of Indian ICAR-AU System.
Our effort is to provide better facilities and to incentivize farmers to increase their income and produce more to ensure the nation’s food security.
Following is the text of opening remarks given by Minister of Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Shri Sharad Pawar at the Economic Editor’s Conference held here today.
I am extremely happy to participate in the Economic Editors’ Conference. This Conference gives me an opportunity to talk to you about the achievements and challenges in the field of agriculture. Your feedback on these issues is important to us for planning future programmes and also to improve the implementation of our existing programmes.
As you know, the year 2008-09 was a very good year for agriculture with an all-time high production of 233.38 million tonnes of foodgrains comprising 117.70 million tonnes of Kharif foodgrains and 116.18 million tonnes of Rabi foodgrains. We achieved these milestones thanks to the efforts of our farmers. Better support from government and new policy and programmatic interventions, sustaining and continuously increasing production and productivity is going to be our challenge for the future.
You are aware that 60% of our net sown area is rainfed. This year’s delayed and deficient monsoon coupled with erratic distribution over most parts of the country and North-West India in particular has had an adverse impact on the production of Kharif crops during 2009-10. This was compounded by a flash flood in parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Major shortfall was noticed in the area sown, around 54 lakh hectares under rice, 3.5 lakh hectares under coarse cereals, 16.5 lakh hectares under oilseeds. Besides the loss of sown area, some of the States also witnessed productivity losses due to erratic rainfall. Preliminary estimates suggest that as compared to last year, production of Kharif rice and oilseeds may decline significantly. Most of the shortfall in Kharif crops is likely to occur in the States of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.
We tried to do our best to protect standing crops. We announced a diesel subsidy for farmers which only Bihar could utilize. Additional power from the Central pool was given to many States. We allowed relaxations in seeds parameters to increase seed availability. Truthfully Labelled seeds were allowed to be used in government programmes. Seed movement was coordinated across the country, particularly for late Kharif and early Rabi. Minikits for Rabi were doubled. The distribution subsidy on seeds for oilseeds, pulses, rice, wheat and maize was enhanced for Rabi 2009-10 in order to reduce the cost of seed to the farmer. The objective was to protect standing crops and ensure that no land remains unsown for want of inputs.
Despite all these measures, the 1st Advance Estimates indicate a shortfall of around 15 million tonnes in rice, 5.5 million tonnes in coarse cereals, 21 million tonnes in foodgrains and 2.5 million tonnes in oilseeds during Kharif 2009-10 as compared to their estimated production during the last year. We have therefore taken measures to augment production in Rabi to partially offset the losses in Kharif. I and my officials are in constant touch with State governments to ensure that they do not face any problem in clearance of schemes and there is sufficient availability of inputs like seeds and fertilizers. Our meetings with State Agriculture Ministers and the Secretaries in-charge of Agriculture of State governments resulted in a renewed commitment by State governments to increase area under Rabi as follows:
Acreage under wheat to be increased by 0.5 million hectares. This along with increase in productivity would lead to increased production of 2 million tonnes of wheat compared to last year.
Acreage under summer/winter/boro rice to be increased by 1.2 to 1.5 million hectares in States like West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Eastern UP. This is expected to result in additional production of about 1 million tonnes.
· Area under Rabi pulses to increase by 1.5 million hectares due to improved soil moisture on account of late monsoon rains. This is expected to result in additional production of about 1 million tonne. Similarly, additional area under oilseeds would also bring about 1.2 million tonnes of additional production.
· Rabi maize and sorghum and summer bajra would bring in 1.5 million tonnes of additional production.
These efforts will result in production of about 8.5 million tonnes of additional foodgrains and 1.5 million tonnes of additional oilseeds during the Rabi season. In addition, improved soil moisture due to late monsoon rains has improved the prospects of Rabi throughout the entire country.
Investment plays a key role for achieving higher growth rate. The plan outlay for the agriculture & allied sector has increased substantially, partly as a result of the introduction of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana(RKVY) which incentivises States to increase the percentage share of State Plan expenditure in agriculture & allied sector. It is important to note that in recent years there has been an increase in the gross capital formation in agriculture as a proportion of agriculture GDP at 1999-2000 prices from 11.1 percent in 2003-04 to 14.24 percent in 2007-08. We have stepped up the allocation under RKVY from Rs.3165 crores last year to Rs.4100 crores this year.
Price signals are an extremely effective tool for increasing agricultural production and productivity. We have been consistently providing substantial increases in minimum support prices of foodgrains so that farmers get remunerative prices for their produce. MSP for wheat was increased from Rs.630/qtl in 2004 to Rs.1080/qtl in 2009. Similarly, MSP for paddy was increased from Rs.560/qtl to Rs.950/-qtl for the same period. We have announced a bonus of Rs.50/qtl for paddy for the Kharif season. Increase in MSP has encouraged farmers to grow more foodgrains which has resulted in record procurement of wheat and rice during the last two years.
The National Food Security Mission (NFSM) was launched in 2007-08 to enhance the production of rice, wheat and pulses by 10 million tonnes, 8 million tonnes and 2 million tonnes respectively by the end of the 11th Plan. Allocation for the scheme for 2009-10 has been stepped up from Rs.1100 crores to Rs. 1350 crore. The Mission has helped to widen the food basket of the country with significant contributions coming from the NFSM districts.
The Macro Management of Agriculture Scheme has been revised and redefined to avoid overlapping and duplication of efforts of the States and to make it more relevant to the present agricultural scenario to achieve the basic objective of food security and to improve the livelihood system for rural masses. The Scheme comprises 10 sub-schemes relating to crop production and natural resource management.
The per capita consumption and import of vegetable oils has witnessed a surge in recent times. Efforts are being made by the Government to increase the production of oilseeds & pulses and oil palm in the country to meet the rising demand through implementation of Centrally Sponsored Integrated Scheme of Oilseeds, Pulses, Oil Palm and Maize (ISOPOM) and other schemes. As a result there has been a record production of 29.75 million tonnes of oilseeds in the country during 2007-08. The production of oilseeds has been recorded at 28.16 million tonnes during 2008-09. A target of 31.60 million tonnes of oilseeds production has been fixed for 2009-10.
To upgrade the quality of farmer-saved seed, financial assistance is provided under the ‘Seed Village Programme.’ So far, about 65,000 villages have been covered under this scheme and another 65,000 villages are expected to be covered under this scheme during the current year. Thus, the Seed Village programme will result in increased availability of about 2.20 lakh quintals of improved seeds to the farmers.
We have liberalized seed import and export regulations with the intention to develop the country into a major seed production and export centre. We encourage States to obtain accreditation of seed testing laboratories from the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA). We also plan to participate in OECD Seed Schemes, recognized worldwide for varietal certification of seeds for international trade.
Reforms in agriculture marketing is an important area to which government attaches a lot of significance. The country is short of post-harvest and market infrastructure both in terms of quality and quantity. The government have announced a 100% depreciation for the private sector for cold-chain and warehousing storage of agricultural products. In addition, we have launched a Terminal Markets Scheme where subsidy upto maximum extent of Rs.50.00 crores is allotted for setting up of modern terminal markets. In addition, our scheme of supporting rural godowns continues with a subsidy element of 25%.
I believe that availability of agricultural credit on time is an important input for farmers in India. We stepped up availability of agricultural credit from Rs.18045 crore in 2005-06 to Rs.287149 crore in 2008-09. A target of Rs. 3,25,000 crore has been kept for disbursement of crop loans this year. An interest subvention of 2% is being provided by government for short-term agricultural credit. In addition, a 1% interest subvention for prompt repayments has also been announced as a new incentive this year. This will take the effective rate of interest for short-term credit to farmers to 6%. A campaign to issue Kisan Credit Cards has been launched in all States. Upto July 2009, 8.53 crore credit cards have been issued to enable farmers to access credit easily from banks.
The year 2008-09 witnessed a spurt in the prices of food articles. However, the overall availability of essential commodities have generally remained satisfactory. Inflation in food articles is a matter of concern and the Government of India have taken several steps to arrest the increase in prices of these commodities.
Our main concern is to ensure the availability of foodgrains for the public distribution system so that the impact of inflation on the common man is minimised. The increase in foodgrains production has been matched by increased procurement for the Central pool. Wheat procurement in 2008-09 and 2009-10 was 226.89 lakh tonnes and 253.81 lakh tonnes respectively. As a result of record procurement during the last two years, the Central pool stock of wheat as on 1.10.2009 was 284.57 lakh tonnes. Similarly, there was record procurement of 284.93 lakh tonnes and 333.07 lakh tonnes of rice in 2007-08 and 2008-09 respectively. In 2009-10 we expect to procure 260 lakh tonnes of rice. As on 29.10.2009, the procurement of rice is 76.99 lakh tonnes compared to 75.31 lakh tonnes on the same date last year. Government has a stock 153.49 lakh tonnes of rice in the Central pool as on 1.10.2009. We expect that we will be able to fully meet the demand of the public distribution system and other welfare schemes.
Government has also taken a number of other steps to improve domestic availability of essential commodities and moderate inflation by–
Allocating 10 lakh tonnes of wheat and 5 lakh tonnes of rice has been made to various States under Open Market Sale Scheme. Under this scheme, State governments will be given wheat by FCI at MSP plus freight charges;
Reducing/waiving import duties for rice, wheat, pulses, edible oils, sugar, maize and refined/hydrogenated oils and vegetable oils;
Allowing import of raw/white/refined sugar at zero duty without levy obligation;
Banning export of edible oils and pulses;
Imposing stock limits;
Distributing 1 million tonne of imported edible oils to States/UTs at a subsidy of Rs.15/kg;
Provision of Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane to provide reasonable margin to farmers on account of risk and profit. State governments have been discouraged from announcing State Advised Prices (SAP) by making them bear financial impact of the difference between FRP and SAP.
Permitting Public Sector Undertakings were permitted to import and sell pulses under a scheme in which losses would be reimbursed by the Government;
Distributing imported pulses to State Governments for supply through PDS at a subsidy of Rs.10 per kg;
Releasing of adequate quantities of non-levy sugar and increasing levy sugar percentage from 10% to 20%;
Banning Future Trade in some essential commodities.
The off-take of foodgrains under the Targeted Public Distribution System has increased from 333 lakh tonnes in 2007-08 to 346 lakh tonnes in 2008-09. The targeted safety nets have been strengthened to ensure household food security through additional allocations of foodgrains to States.
Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries sectors play a significant role in supplementing family incomes and generating gainful employment in the rural areas, particularly, among the landless labourers, small and marginal farmers and women. Livestock is the best possible insurance against the vagaries of nature like drought, famine and other natural calamities.
The approach to the 11th Plan envisages an overall growth between 6 to 7 % per annum for the sector, with milk group achieving growth of 5% per annum and meat and poultry achieving growth of 10% per annum. Milk production is estimated to reach 110.00 million tonnes by 2008-09. Government is working on a National Dairy Plan to increase milk production to 180.00 million tonnes by 2021-22.
India ranks 3rd in total egg and fish production and the 2nd in fresh water fish production in the world. During the year 2008-09 the total fish production was 7.13 million tonnes.
We have decided to issue biometric identity cards to marine fishermen. The Department has offered the task of digitization of the data, capturing of biometric details and production of biometric I.D. cards to a consortium of public sector undertakings led by Bharat Electronics Ltd.
To mitigate the shortage of fodder due to drought like situation in the country, the Government has allocated additional 2.52 lakh fodder minikits, over and above 6.8 lakh routinely given to the States for free distribution to the farmers.
Agricultural Research & Education has also played a crucial role in the growth of the agriculture and allied sectors. Major achievements include development of 96 varieties/hybrids of crops including a Bt gene containing cotton variety Bikaneri Narma, and a record production of about 10,000 tonnes of breeder seed of different field crops, release of 3 location specific coconut varieties/hybrids, 3 new potato varieties viz. Kufri Sadabahar, Kufri Khayali and Kufri Giridhari and a unique fungal resistant grape variety Pusa Navrang with red pigmentation in both peel and pulp for juice making, and production of the first cloned buffalo calf.
DARE has also developed cost effective amelioration technologies for waterlogged, salt affected and acid soils. In order to address the issues of impact of climate change on agriculture, a National Institute of Abiotic Stress Management has been established.
8 new Krishi Vigyan Kendras have been added during 2008-09. Provision has been made for e-linking of Krishi Vikas Kendras and for establishment of facilities like mobile diagnostic-cum-exhibition units, soil and water testing labs, rain water harvesting, etc.
DARE has sett up a comprehensive Accreditation system to ensure quality of education, strengthening of infrastructure and faculty improvement in Agricultural Universities, introduction of new courses on skill and entrepreneurship development and introduction of international fellowships to develop competent human resource and showcasing the strength of Indian ICAR-AU System.
Our effort is to provide better facilities and to incentivize farmers to increase their income and produce more to ensure the nation’s food security.
No comments:
Post a Comment