New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday virtually launched 35 crop varieties that aim to combat the problems of malnutrition and climate change, during the inauguration of the National Institute of Biotic Stress Management, Raipur, through videoconferencing.
Developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), these varieties will address malnutrition, climate change, and anti-nutritional factors that adversely affect animal and human health.
Climate-resistant and highly nutritional, these crops include biofortified varieties of wheat, pearl millet, maize, quinoa, buckwheat, winged bean, and faba bean, drought-tolerant varieties of chickpea, sterile and mosaic-resistant pigeon pea, early maturing varieties of soybean, and disease-resistant rice varieties.
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that 86 percent of Indian farmers are small farmers. The PM’s focus is on enhancing the income of such farmers. For their benefit, Modi had launched schemes like PM Kisan.
(Avya Mathur)