Speaking on the occasion of 57th convocation ceremony of Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh lauded its role in developing neem-coated urea, among other achievements.
“Government of India has made use of neem-coated urea mandatory and it increased the efficiency of 10% nitrogen usage compared to uncoated urea thereby saving 10% urea”, Singh added while stressing that IARI-Post Office Linkage Extension Model has proved important in expansion program of IARI technologies.
Under the “Mera Gaon – Mera Gaurav” initiative, the institute has adopted more than 600 villages in and around Delhi-NCR, where scientists regularly share technology with farmers. He said that by 2050 the population of the country would increase to 166 crore and there is immense potential for food security in eastern and north-eastern states.
To fulfill this objective, IARI-Jharkhand’s administrative and academic building was inaugurated on Jan 27, 2019 after the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone on June 28, 2015. The IARI-Assam will also be operational soon.
‘Pusa Basmati 1121’ developed by the Institute has earned foreign exchange worth more than Rs 1.7 lakh crore in the last ten years. Recently, ‘Pusa Basmati 1718’ has been developed which is resistant to bacterial leaf scorch, underlined the Minister.
“Similarly, IARI Wheat varieties (HD 2967 and HD 3086), which are spread over 10 million hectares of the country’s covered wheat area, is accelerating growth in wheat production. There has also been a remarkable progress in developing high yielding, disease-resistant and nutritious varieties of maize, arhar, vegetable, flowers and other crops”, he said.
Minister also used the occasion to list several achievements of the govt in the farm sector Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Har Khet Ko Pani, e-NAM, strengthening of Gramin Haat, Rashtriya Gokul Mission, MSP, income support of Rs 6000 to farmers, KCC for Animal husbandry and Fisheries, Rashtriya Kamdhenu Ayog, separate department for Fisheries etc.
“The budgetary allocation for the Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Ministry has been raised by around 2.5 times from Rs 58,080 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 1,41,174.37 crore in 2019-20”, he noted.