PM Modi dedicates 35 crop varieties with 'special traits' to nation, interacts with farmers
During the virtual ceremony, he also inaugurated the newly constructed campus of the National Institute of Biotic Stress Tolerance, Raipur.
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FollowPrime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday dedicated 35 crop varieties with special traits to the nation, seeking to create mass awareness for the adoption of climate-resilient technologies.
During the virtual ceremony, he also inaugurated the newly constructed campus of the National Institute of Biotic Stress Tolerance, Raipur.
Developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), these crop varieties with special traits like climate resilience and higher nutrient content have been developed in the year 2021 and include a drought tolerant variety of chickpea; wilt, and sterility mosaic resistant pigeon pea; early maturing variety of soybean; disease resistant varieties of rice and biofortified varieties of wheat, pearl millet, maize and chickpea, quinoa, buckwheat, winged bean and faba bean.
These crop varieties also include those that address the anti-nutritional factors found in some crops that adversely affect human and animal health.
Addressing the farmers, PM Modi said, “In the last 6-7 years, Science & Technology is being used on priority for solutions to the challenges in agriculture. Especially in the changing season, in line with new situations, our focus is on nutritious seeds.”
“Last year, during the fight against coronavirus, we saw how swarms of locusts attacked several states. By making several efforts, India had stopped the attacks and had saved farmers from suffering huge losses,” he added.
The National Institute of Biotic Stress Management at Raipur has been established to take up the basic and strategic research in biotic stresses, develop human resources and provide policy support.
The institute has started PG courses from the academic session 2020-21, the PMO noted.
Mentioning the Green Campus Awards, the PMO said it has been initiated to motivate state and central agricultural universities to develop or adopt such practices which will render their campuses more green and clean, and motivate students to get involved in 'Swachh Bharat Mission', 'Waste to Wealth Mission' and community connect as per the National Education Policy-2020.
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