Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday released 109 high-yielding, climate-resilient, and biofortified varieties of crops at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute here and interacted with farmers and scientists on the occasion.
The 109 varieties of 61 crops released by the Prime Minister included 34 field crops and 27 horticultural crops. Among the field crops, seeds of various cereals, 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.
Discussing the importance of these new crop varieties, Modi emphasised the significance of value addition in agriculture. 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.
The Prime Minister discussed the importance of millet 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 to promote natural farming.
The farmers also lauded the role played by Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) in creating awareness.
The Prime Minister suggested that KVKs should proactively inform farmers about the benefits of the new varieties being developed every month to enhance awareness about their benefits.
Modi also praised the scientists for developing these new crop varieties. The scientists informed that they have been working in line with the suggestion given by the Prime Minister to bring unutilised crops into the mainstream.