Observing that today’s era is that of disruptive technologies, President Droupadi Murmu Friday called for taking advantage of these technologies while avoiding their side effects.

She was inaugurating the centenary celebration of the ICAR-National Institute of Secondary Agriculture (NISA) in Ranchi.

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The President said that besides making farming a profitable venture, there are three other major challenges before agriculture in the 21st century. These are: maintaining food and nutrition security, sustainable use of resources, and climate change.

She stated that activities related to secondary agriculture can help meet these challenges. Secondary agriculture includes the value addition of primary agricultural products as well as other agriculture-related activities like beekeeping, poultry farming, agricultural tourism, etc. She further said that agricultural waste can be utilised properly through secondary agriculture activities. They can be processed to make useful and valuable things. In this way, the environment can be protected and the farmers’ income will be increased as well, she added.

The President said that Lac (a sticky substance) is produced in India mainly by the tribal community. It is an important source of their income. She was happy to note that the National Institute of Secondary Agriculture has taken several steps for research and development as well as commercial development of Lac, Natural Resins, and Gums. It includes the development of a Small small-scale lac Processing Unit and an Integrated Lac Processing Unit; the development of lac-based natural paints, varnishes, and cosmetic products; development of lac-based coating to increase the shelf-life of fruits, vegetables, and spices. She expressed confidence that all these steps will help in improving the living standards of tribal brothers and sisters.

The President was also happy to note that the Automation and Plant Engineering Division has been established in NISA which focuses on the development of robotics, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence-enabled equipment.

She said that NISA has done good work in Lac farming. But, there are still many areas in which further improvements can be made. For example, there is a demand for high-quality Lac in the pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industries. If the quality, supply chain, and marketing of Indian Lac are improved, the farmers will be able to supply it in the country and abroad and will get better prices, she added.