Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) celebrated its 92nd foundation day last week, in which Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar participated.
Laying emphasis on developing new varieties of oil seeds, Tomar said that the near self-sufficiency achieved in pulses production needs to be replicated for oil seeds production also so that import of edible oils is reduced.Palm oil production needs to be increased by research and increased cultivation, the Minister felt.
Exhorting the scientists to ensure that in its tenth decade, the Pusa Institute (IARI) gets upgraded from a national institute to an institute of international status, the Minister said that there is need to reduce dependence on imports, increase production of healthy foods and also increase production of pulses and oil seeds.
Tomar appreciated the efforts of the agricultural scientists due to which ICAR has contributed immensely in the progress of agriculture in the country during the last nine decades. He said that today India is surplus in food grains production due to the research contribution of the scientists and hard work of the farmers.
On this occasion, 8 new products and 10 publications were released. Union Ministers of State for Agriculture Shri Parshottam Rupala and Shri Kailash Choudhary, Director General, ICAR, Dr.Trilochan Mahapatra, a number of ICAR scientists and officials were present.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research has been recognizing and rewarding the institutions, scientists, teachers, farmers and agricultural journalists every year. This year; nearly 160 awardees under 20 different categories have been selected. These comprise three Institutions, two AICRP, 14 KVKs, 94 Scientists, 31 farmers, 6 journalists and 10 staff members of various ICAR Institutes. It is heartening to note that of the 141 awarded persons 19 are women.
Among the Agricultural Universities and Deemed universities, Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar has been bestowed upon the Best Agriculture University Award for the rapid strides in all spheres of teaching, research, extension and innovations.
All India Coordinated Research Project on Sorghum, Hyderabad and All India Coordinated Research Project on Maize, Ludhiana have been jointly conferred Chaudhary Devi Lal Outstanding All India Coordinated Research Project Award 2019.
Deendayal Upadhyay Krishi Vigyan ProtsahanPuruskar for KVKs at National Level has been jointly bagged by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Datia, Madhya Pradesh and Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Venkataramannagudem, Andhra Pradesh.